Overview:
To answer President Trump’s call for AI data centers powered by nuclear reactors as critical defense electric infrastructure, Fermi America and the Texas Tech University System have partnered to build what is expected to be the largest nuclear power complex in America in Amarillo.
In late May, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the Secretary of Energy to “designate [Artificial Intelligence] data centers, located at or operated in coordination with Department of Energy (DOE) facilities, as critical defense facilities, and the nuclear reactors powering them as defense critical electric infrastructure.”
On Thursday, Fermi America announced that a “first-of-its-kind” HyperGrid campus “expected to integrate 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 next-generation artificial intelligence” is coming to Amarillo. In partnership with the Texas Tech University System (TTU System), Fermi America expects the project to be the world’s largest energy-driven AI complex.
The campus will span 5,769 acres and have the potential to deliver up to 11 gigawatts of power and 18 million square feet of AI capacity. It will be near the nuclear facility Pantex.
Former U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry co-founded Fermi America. “President Trump’s first Executive Order addressed the energy issue and emphasized the need to continue making America energy dominant. His recent decisive action to sign four additional Executive Orders that pave the way for a nuclear power energy renaissance, demands that American innovators rise to the occasion. No one does energy better than Texas, and Fermi America and the Texas Tech University System are answering the call,” Perry said.
The partnership will also further the TTU System’s mission by providing academic and research opportunities, workforce training and placement programs.
“The Texas Tech University System is proud to partner with Fermi America on this historic endeavor,” TTU System Chancellor Tedd L. Mitchell, M.D., said. “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 university, the Texas Panhandle and this great state.”
Rep. Ronny Jackson (TX-13) said the announcement marks a pivotal moment for the Texas Panhandle and the United States.
“This strategic investment and key innovative partnership between Fermi America and the Texas Tech University System is expected to establish the world’s largest energy-driven data center, placing America firmly at the forefront of the global AI race against the Chinese Communist Party. This project signals the start of a new chapter of high-impact investment in the Texas Panhandle. I am incredibly proud that the region’s unmatched energy resources and skilled workforce will power this transformative project, solidifying our role in shaping the future of energy and technology,” Jackson said.
Geotechnical work has already begun, and the HyperGrid is expected to deliver a gigawatt of online power by the end of 2026. A Fermi America spokesperson discussed the incoming campus’s impact on the region in a statement to the Amarillo Tribune.
“With several of our co-founders and executive team members having grown up in the region, and our family and friends still calling it home, we couldn’t be more excited for what this opportunity means for Amarillo, the Panhandle, and West Texas,” the spokesperson said. “For starters, the campus will create thousands of great jobs during the multi-year construction project, resulting in a bump in the housing and hospitality industry and boosting the local economy. Of course, collaborating on the world’s largest advanced energy and AI campus with the Texas Tech University System will create significant research, funding, and development opportunities for area campuses and students; not to mention the region, that has traditionally been known for agriculture, petroleum, finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and education will now lead the way on clean, safe, new nuclear energy and powering the future of artificial intelligence, providing exciting economic diversification.”
