US-based land firm Potentia Development has announced plans for a new behind-the-meter industrial park in Bowie County, Texas, for a prospective data center project.

Project Big Pine will span 450 acres and is located at the TexAmericas Center. The company is currently seeking a hyperscale, AI/HPC, neocloud, or other data center operator to serve as the site's anchor offtaker. The company said that site control is already in place, and core site, environmental, and development due diligence has been completed.

Potentia intends to deliver power through islanded on-site generation rather than a grid connection, with initial energization targeted 20 to 30 months after a qualifying offtaker signs on. The company said the power architecture is being designed so a grid interconnection can be added later, without redesigning the site's entire electrical system.

A permanent utility connection is being pursued separately through AEP subsidiary Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO). Potentia said an AEP-SWEPCO screening has identified transmission headroom on an adjacent 345kV line, supporting a phased pathway to 800MW of utility service. The phased capacity will begin in Q2 of 2032 with 300MW, with another 200MW expected by Q2 of 2034, and a further 300MW in Q2 of 2036.

The phased timeline remains subject to utility Southwest Power Pool’s study processes, system upgrades, and definitive agreements.

To supply its onsite systems, the company said it has advanced multi-gigawatt natural gas delivery concepts with interstate pipeline operators. It also claims that the site has access to existing regional water infrastructure, as well as multiple fiber carrier routes.

"At this scale, every unbounded workstream is a claim on the offtaker's capital and schedule," said Carl Quesinberry, CEO of Potentia Development. "We advanced BTM power, permitting, grid, gas, water, fiber and site diligence in parallel so a qualified user is not underwriting open-ended development exposure."

The development’s announcement comes shortly after Texas governor Gregg Abbott's announcement of an audit of all data center projects seeking a grid connection through ERCOT’s interconnection process.

According to research from Bloomberg NEF, the pause, enacted by Abbott earlier this month, could put up to 20 percent of the US’ data center pipeline at risk, which could lead to a growth of operators seeking off-grid solutions for their data center developments.

Headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, Potentia specializes in master-planning multi-tenant industrial parks tailored for power-intensive operations like data centers. In January of last year, the company partnered with AI and high-performance computing Infrastructure-as-a-Service provider Hypertec Cloud to supply the company with access to more than 480MW of power through Potentia data centers in the US.

Potentia lists Schneider Electric, JLL, Submer, Quanta, and Solvenz among its other partners.