A Texas company co-founded by former US Energy Secretary Rick Perry plans to build the "world's largest" advanced energy and AI campus, featuring four 1-GW nuclear reactors, gas generation and solar.
Fermi America aims to have 1 GW of energy online at the facility by the end of 2026.
Fermi America is working to answer President Donald Trump's call to deliver "global energy and AI dominance," the company said in a June 26 news release announcing the project, a behind-the-meter "HyperGrid" campus. It is expected to integrate the "largest nuclear power complex in America," as well as the nation's biggest combined-cycle gas project, solar power and battery storage to power AI operations.
"The Chinese are building 22 nuclear reactors today to power the future of AI," Perry, a Republican former Texas governor, said in a statement. "America has none. We're behind, and it's all hands on deck."
Fermi America has filed its US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) combined license to construct and operate four 1 GW reactors at the site, the company confirmed to Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Recent executive orders, which include changes to the NRC, "pave the way for a nuclear power energy renaissance" and demand "that American innovators rise to the occasion," Perry said.
The energy campus is planned for Amarillo, Texas, and Fermi America is partnering with the Texas Tech University System on the project.
The 5,769-acre campus has the potential to deliver up to 11 GW of power and 18 million square feet of AI capacity, according to Fermi America's announcement.
The announcement marks a "pivotal moment" for the region with "unmatched" energy resources and workforce, US Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) said in a statement.
"This project signals the start of a new chapter of high-impact investment in the Texas Panhandle," Jackson said.
The property is situated near several of the country's largest gas pipelines and on top of one of the largest known gas fields in the US, the company said. The campus is also located near the DOE's Pantex nuclear weapons facility, which Fermi America said positions the project to "build clean, safe, new nuclear power."
Geotechnical work has begun at the property, the company said.
"This partnership will not only position Texas Tech to address the evolving demands of the energy and technology sectors but will also create meaningful educational opportunities for our students and research possibilities across many disciplines for our faculty," Lawrence Schovanec, president of Texas Tech University, said in a statement.
Some market participants, however, expressed skepticism.
At this point, the project is "just bragawatts," Evan Caron, founding partner at Dallas-based battery development firm HGP Storage, told Platts. "Most likely it never gets built."
The last large-scale nuclear reactors built in the US were units 3 and 4 at Southern Co.'s Vogtle Nuclear Plant in Georgia. Those units, both AP1000 reactors, entered service in 2023 and 2024 after long delays and significant cost overruns.
Total cost estimates for the Vogtle additions are difficult to determine, given variables such as financing costs across multiple owners. Testimony at Georgia Public Service Commission hearings in December 2023 included estimates of $32 billion to $35 billion or higher.
Efforts to build a pair of AP1000 reactors at the V.C. Summer plant in South Carolina ended with the project abandoned in 2017 after about $9 billion of investment, though there are now some early efforts to restart the project.
Since the Vogtle units entered service, the nuclear industry has seen renewed interest in the face of demand growth projections and increased state and federal support.
At a May conference in Washington, D.C., US Energy Secretary Chris Wright urged the nuclear power industry to shift gears and become more aggressive to meet accelerating electricity demands.
Texas has also signaled renewed interest in nuclear development. In the last legislative session, Texas lawmakers included $350 million in the state budget to encourage nuclear plant construction.
"By creating the Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Office and investing $350 million — the largest national commitment — we will jump-start next-generation nuclear development and deployment," Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said. "This initiative will also strengthen Texas' nuclear manufacturing capacity, rebuild a domestic fuel cycle supply chain, and train the future nuclear workforce."
