Pacifico Energy has obtained a 7.65GW air permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for its planned 5GW GW Ranch project in West Texas.

The off-grid power project was announced last year and is expected to be located on an 8,000+ acre plot in Pecos County. According to the company, it will be purpose-built to support hyperscale data center operators and artificial intelligence applications.

The permit authorizes the construction and operation of gas-fired generation at the private-grid campus.

According to Pacifico, the project will combine natural gas generation with battery storage and solar, creating a standalone energy platform intended to support multi-phase data center deployments. The site will include 7.65GW of gas capacity, 1.8GW of battery energy storage, and 750MWac of solar generation.

Phase 1 of the project will deliver 1GW of capacity, with first power expected in the first half of 2027.

Pacifico said the private-grid model is intended to avoid adding load to the Texas grid at a time when electricity demand from data centers is rising rapidly. The project includes multiple gas supply connections, including a 15-mile pipeline to the Waha hub.

The project's location in Pecos County will provide access to the Permian Basin, one of the largest producers of natural gas in the US. In 2024, natural gas production across the Permian rose by 12 percent year-over-year, accounting for 22 percent of the marketed natural gas production in the US, according to the EIA.

Pacifico Energy is the energy arm of investment firm Pacifico Group. Based out of San Juan, California, the company has interests in both renewable and fossil fuel-based energy projects.