Officials in a Texas city have rejected a tax abatement request for a planned data center project.

As reported by KBTX, Brenham city council this week voted against a tax abatement for a proposed data center.

The move means French technology company Viridien will not receive tax incentives for its planned development on a 21-acre site at 2602 Longwood Drive in Brenham, a Washington County city located between Austin and Houston.

Viridien (formerly CGG) reportedly aims to initially develop a single 40,000 sq ft (3,715 sqm) data center building, with potential to expand to three by 2028, totaling 45MW. The site would use immersion cooling for the company’s HPC needs.

The company has said it would pay for its own electrical infrastructure through Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative.

More than 100 people were at the meeting, with many in the room said to cheer the decision not to grant the project tax breaks. A Change.org petition against the development has secured more than 1,000 signatures at time of writing.

“We are a town of homes, schools, churches, farms, historic neighborhoods, and small businesses. We deserve development that fits our community — not a facility designed for massive power consumption and industrial operations,” the petition said.

Founded in 1931, Viriden is a technology company that specializes in Earth science, data science, sensing, imaging, and monitoring services, as well as HPC services. The firm already has a presence in Texas, in Houston at 10300 Town Park Drive.

The development has reportedly been in the works since 2022, with the land sale closing in summer 2025. The company aims to invest up to $100 million in the project.

Amid pushback from local residents, the city recently posted an announcement noting that the site would be used for Viriden’s “own research and technology work” and not for storing personal data, AI operations, or mining cryptocurrency.

“We recognize that residents may be surprised to learn about the project now,” the city said.

“Economic development projects don’t always attract attention until people hear a label that sparks concern,” Teresa Rosales, Brenham economic development director, added. “That doesn’t mean the process was hidden—it means the public conversation is now catching up, and we welcome that conversation. All negotiations followed established public-sector processes.”

She continued: “From July 2023 through July 2025, the project went through multiple publicly authorized actions, negotiations, and contract milestones—each one requiring approvals, documentation, and oversight. These actions included property negotiations, option agreements, site evaluations, and infrastructure coordination, all handled through established public-sector processes.”

Viridien has several HPC hubs globally to support its geospacial and science data processing needs, with locations in Houston, London, Paris, and Singapore. The company uses immersion cooling for its compute, relying on the technology for more than a decade. The company is a known customer of immersion tank provider GRC.

After launching a HPC-as-a-Service offering in 2023, Viridien announced the US launch of its industrial Viridien Cloud for AI and HPC production in November 2024. The company previously announced a partnership with data center provider Eclairion in France in 2023.

A March 2025 presentation said the company has more than 550 petaflops of compute capacity.