Proposed
Texas Critical Data Centers AI campus (near Penwell)
Also called: TCDC, New Era Energy & Digital, New Era Helium / Sharon AI joint venture
New Era Energy & Digital plans a large AI data center campus near Penwell, west of Odessa, with grid power and its own gas plant. It could grow past 1 gigawatt. It has no tenant yet.
Where things stand: Land bought and early site work reported. Main construction was expected to start in 2026. No tenant announced.
🕒 Latest update (2026): Stream Data Centers joined the project. Plans grew to more than 1 gigawatt on about 438 acres.
What we know
- 📍 WhereAbout 438 acres near Penwell in west Ector County, next to power plants run by Vistra and Calpine. Land came from GROW Odessa (city economic development group)., Unincorporated Ector County, Ector County
- 🏢 CompanyNew Era Energy & Digital (with Stream Data Centers)
- 🏛️ Owned byNew Era Energy & Digital Inc. (formerly New Era Helium)
- 🌳 Size438 acres
- ⚡ Power it needs1,000 megawatts (about as much as 800,000 homes)
- 🔌 Where the power comes fromFirst 200 megawatts from the grid, then about 450 megawatts from its own gas plant, growing past 1 gigawatt
- ❄️ CoolingClosed-loop cooling (company says it uses much less water)
❓ Still unanswered
Nobody has answered these in public yet. Can you help find out?
- Has TCEQ received an air permit request for the planned gas plant? 🙋 I'll find out
- How much water will the campus use, and from where? 🙋 I'll find out
- Did Ector County give a tax break? 🙋 I'll find out
- Has main construction started? 🙋 I'll find out
What happened so far
- Feb 2025New Era Helium and Sharon AI said they planned a 250-megawatt AI data center on about 200 acres near Penwell. No county tax break had been asked for yet.
- 2026Stream Data Centers joined the project. Plans grew to more than 1 gigawatt on about 438 acres.
🛰️ See it from above
Drag the slider to compare the land before and now.
RecentRecent
We only know the town, so this shows the town center, not the exact site. Photos: USGS The National Map.
Where this comes from
- TCDC AI campus in West Texas gets Stream Data Centers to join New Era Energy ahead of 2026 full construction start · Construction Review Online · 2026
- Data center could be coming soon · Odessa American (via Yahoo News) · March 15, 2025
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