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Project Matador, a large-scale “energy island” proposed in Texas, is moving forward under the direction of Rick Perry, former Texas Governor and U.S. Energy Secretary, and Toby Neugebauer, co-founders of Fermi America. The initiative aims to support rapidly growing domestic AI infrastructure with an energy system capable of delivering up to 11 GW of IT capacity.

According to information released by Fermi America, the project will integrate natural gas, nuclear, solar, and energy storage resources, while excluding coal generation. The decision aligns with the current energy portfolios of Fermi’s founders and the broader investment strategy of Quantum Energy Partners, an energy-focused private equity firm associated with Neugebauer. Coal has not been a significant asset within the firm’s holdings.

The project is being developed in partnership with Texas Tech University, which will host the site as part of its new Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus. The university notes that the campus may also incorporate wind power, despite wind not being listed in Fermi America’s initial outline. Texas Tech describes the planned facilities as including 18 million square feet of data center space supported by a diversified energy mix.

The U.S. Department of Energy has reportedly approved the site lease arrangement, allowing development work to proceed.

Project Matador is positioned as a major addition to Texas’s evolving energy landscape, emphasizing a combination of conventional and clean energy resources to meet projected demand from AI and high-performance computing operations.

Source: cleantechnica.com