The Texas Tech University System (TTU System) is to collaborate with Fermi America to create one of the most significant power campuses in the US and the largest advanced energy, private grid and intelligence development in the world. Fermi America is a Texas company co-founded by former US Energy Secretary and Texas Governor Rick Perry.
The Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus will support the growing demands of artificial intelligence (AI), data innovation and sustainable energy. It will be located on approximately 5,800 acres in the Texas Panhandle. The site will include 18m square feet of data centres and generate up to 11 GWe of IT capacity from natural gas, solar, wind and clean nuclear energy.
Fermi America says the next-gen HyperGrid is “a first-of-its-kind behind-the-meter campus that will combine the largest nuclear power complex in America, the nation’s biggest combined-cycle natural gas project, utility grid power, solar power, and battery energy storage to deliver hyperscale data capacity, providing critical infrastructure energy solutions that will power the future of artificial intelligence (AI).”
“The Texas Tech University System is proud to partner with Fermi America on this historic endeavour,” said Chancellor Tedd L Mitchell. “Texas is the energy capital of the world, and this campus will not only be the largest energy and data complex of its kind, but also a testament to the unshakable spirit of our system, the Texas Panhandle and this great state.”
TTU System, established in 1996, is one of the top US public university systems, comprising five universities – Texas Tech University, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Centre, Angelo State University, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Centre El Paso and Midwestern State University.
Rick Perry commented: “The Chinese are building 22 nuclear reactors today. We’re behind, and it’s all hands on deck. President Trump’s first executive order spoke to the energy issue and how we must continue to make America energy dominant. No one does energy better than Texas, and Fermi America and the Texas Tech University System are answering the call.”
The project will also advance the mission of TTU System by providing academic and research opportunities for faculty and students, including internships, employment and workforce training and placement programmes that will benefit all five TTU System institutions. The plan also includes the construction of an academic and research facility featuring office, classroom and conference spaces.
Fermi officials said the Amarillo site was selected for its proximity to major natural gas pipelines, high-speed fibre, strong solar potential and one of the country’s largest natural gas fields. Geotechnical work has already begun, and the company expects to bring its first gigawatt of capacity online by the end of 2026. It is located near the Pantex Plant – the US’s only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility located on the High Plains of the Texas Panhandle, 17 miles northeast of Amarillo.
Pantex Plant is a Department of Energy (DOE) facility operated by contractor BWXT Pantex and Sandia National Laboratory. The DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) is responsible for directing Plant operations. The facility occupies approximately 16,000 acres with approximately 10,000 of the total owned by DOE and 6,000 acres leased from Texas Tech University, which serves as a buffer zone for site safety and security. The plant opened in 1942 as an Army Ordinance Corps facility. DOE began nuclear operations in 1950.
