Fermi America, the developer behind the planned up to 11GW data center campus in Amarillo, Texas, has been granted preliminary approval for 6GW of clean natural gas-based power generation from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

The approval is subject to a formal meeting and ongoing public consultation.

“At Fermi, our private grid model ensures that the growing demand for AI is met privately — freeing up power on the public utilities to serve homes, schools, hospitals, and small businesses as intended. Together with our partners, we're building one of the cleanest, most efficient power fleets in the world, driven by American innovation — without asking taxpayers to foot the energy bill for the world's largest, highest-margin companies," said Toby Neugebauer, CEO and co-founder of Fermi America.  

The company also announced the execution of an Advance in Aid of Construction Agreement (AIAC) for $150 million with its first prospective client. AIACs are contracts where a customer provides upfront funds to help cover the costs of building or upgrading a facility.

Fermi’s Project Matador is one of the most ambitious data center campuses planned anywhere in the world. The project is being developed 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.

The company has already signed several deals to acquire natural gas turbines to power the installation in the short- to medium-term.

Last month, the company signed a deal with US midstream gas firm Energy Transfer to connect with its pipeline infrastructure located just south of the planned campus. The pipeline interconnection is slated for completion in Q1 2026.

Fermi intends to use the pipeline to power several natural gas turbines located at the site. In September, the company signed a non-binding 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. Through this, Fermi aims to deliver at least 1.1GW of power to the site by 2026.

In addition to natural gas generation, Fermi aims to deploy four Westinghouse AP1000 reactors on the campus. 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.

To support this, the company has signed deals with Doosan Enerbility, a South Korean nuclear equipment firm, to initiate the production of critical, long-lead-time nuclear equipment (reactor pressure vessels and steam generators) to support the deployment of four planned Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors. It has also signed a deal with Hyundai Engineering & Construction (E&C), which will see Hyundai commence engineering work on the four reactors for the data center.

While the campus remains in the very early stages of development, having yet to build anything and secure any customers, it has already mobilized significant capital.

Earlier this month, the company made its stock market debut, launching an initial public offering (IPO). The launch exceeded expectations, with shares of the company opening 19 percent higher than expected, with the data center investment trust valued at $14.8 billion.

Last month, the company secured $100 million as part of a Series C equity funding round led by Macquarie Group, as well as a $250m senior loan facility, funded solely by Macquarie’s commodities and global markets business.

Despite the massive investment, concerns remain over whether the campus will be able to successfully get off the ground, with the first two phases alone expected to cost more than $2bn. In addition, the long lead time of the Westinghouse reactor has led some to argue that it is unlikely to reach its 11GW goal unless significant work is done to expedite the construction and installation of the nuclear reactors.