Fermi America, the company behind “Project Matador,” a planned 11GW energy and data center campus in Amarillo, Texas, has made its Nasdaq debut, valued at almost $15 billion.

The launch exceeded expectations, with shares of the company opening 19 percent higher than expected, with the data center investment trust valued at $14.8bn.

Its stock opened at $25, $4 higher than the offer price of $21, amidst skyrocketing investor confidence in the AI infrastructure space. According to Rick Perry, co-founder of Fermi and former US Energy Secretary, the company successfully raised $682.5 million as part of its initial public offering (IPO).

The company sold 32.5 million shares at $21 apiece, leading to the upsized valuation. The IPO was officially announced late last month, with the company targeting a valuation of up to $13.6bn.

Fermi intends to use the proceeds from the IPO, in addition to its existing assets, to support business growth, enhance its workforce, and increase financial flexibility in support of its planned data center project. Last month, the company secured $100 million as part of a Series C equity funding round, led by Macquarie Group. In addition, Fermi also secured a $250m senior loan facility, funded solely by Macquarie’s commodities and global markets business, with $100m drawn at close.

The company is currently developing “Project Matador,” in partnership with the Texas Tech University system, on whose land the data center will be sited.

If realized, the project will span 18 million sq ft (1.67 million sqm) and have a capacity of up to 11GW. To power the campus, Fermi intends to utilize a combination of on-site energy sources, including natural gas, solar, wind energy, and nuclear energy. Fermi has already signed several agreements to secure the power generation capacity required.

Earlier this week, Fermi signed a Letter of Intent with Siemens for up to 1.1GW of gas turbine capacity to power the site. This followed a deal in July that saw the company purchase more than 600MW of natural gas generation capacity through two separate transactions. The acquired assets included nine natural gas turbines, which the company stated will support its goal of delivering 1GW of AI power at the site by 2026.

While gas generation is expected to be the campus’s primary source of power in the short to medium term, Fermi has signed several agreements with nuclear energy companies to supply the campus with nuclear power for its long-term operations.

Earlier this year, the company announced its intention to install four Westinghouse AP1000 reactors. Each AP1000 is a Generation III+ pressurized water reactor with an output capacity of roughly 1,100–1,117MWe. Fermi is collaborating with Westinghouse to finalize a Combined Operating License Application to expedite the approval process.

Fermi has also signed two other agreements to support its nuclear ambitions. The company signed two Memoranda of Understanding with South Korean firms Hyundai and Doosan Enerbility to support the deployment of the nuclear reactors on the site.

The project, initially announced in June, is still in its very early stages of development. According to the company, it has commenced with geotechnical work and “expects” to deliver 1GW by the end of 2026. Its long-term development plan has not been disclosed.