TTU System, Fermi America announce world’s largest advanced energy, AI campus
LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) — What is expected to be the world’s largest advanced energy and Artificial Intelligence facility will soon be built in the Texas Panhandle.
It’s a partnership between the Texas Tech University System and energy and technology company Fermi America, as the United States races against China for energy dominance.
“The Chinese are building 22 nuclear reactors as we speak,” Fermi America co-founder and former U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said. “America is in a race to save western civilization. It’s really that simple. Whoever gets to the lead in this race first is going to be the winner.”
Texas Tech owns 5,769 acres northeast of Amarillo, near the Pantex nuclear facility. The U.S. Department of Energy scouted it as one of 16 sites to build a facility of this nature; partly because of its proximity to Pantex and other major natural resources.
“If you look around the country or, quite frankly, the globe right now, the need for energy for these data centers is skyrocketing,” Dr. Tedd Mitchell, Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System, said. “It puts us in a very good position to be able to help out the Panhandle, the South Plains, and the entire state.”
Once completed, Fermi America reports the facility will have 18 million square feet of data centers and the capability to support 11 gigawatts of IT capacity. Secretary Perry says that’s enough energy to power Manhattan.
“We’re behind, but we can win,” Perry said. “We did it 70 years ago with the Manhattan Project and we can do it again.”
The campus is expected to deliver its first gigawatt of online power by 2026.
In addition to the energy and technology components, the project will also advance the mission of the TTU System by providing academic and research opportunities for faculty and students, including internships, employment and workforce training and placement programs that will benefit all five TTU System institutions.
Dr. Mitchell says it will bolster the system’s competitive edge when it comes to academic recruiting.
“It is absolutely, unabashedly a recruiting tool to use,” Dr. Mitchell said. “An opportunity like this is very unique to us. We know if we can get people out here to see what we’re doing, we have a great chance to recruit them.”
Fermi America also committed to contributing to an “excellence fund” that will go to the TTU System. It’s not yet clear how much money will be put into the fund, but Dr. Mitchell says he expects it to be used for things like scholarships and research funding.
“There will be opportunities for us to have students in computer science and electrical engineering do rotations up there as part of an educational experience,” Dr. Mitchell said. “That helps the community not just in the Panhandle, but around the country in developing workforce needs.”
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