ECL is building a gigawatt hydrogen data center to meet AI’s insatiable power demand – and is already planning an expansion

By James On Oct 4, 2024

As technology companies continue to expand their use of artificial intelligence, the demand for energy-intensive data centers is growing rapidly.

Technology companies are looking for sustainable ways to power these activities, with a focus on reducing their impact on the environment, and while nuclear power is seen as an attractive option due to its ability to provide large amounts of energy with minimal emissions, there are other solutions emerging. also.

ECL has announced the development of TerraSite-TX1, the world’s first 1GW off-grid, hydrogen-powered AI factory data center. Located on a 600-acre site near Houston, Texas, this facility will provide Lambda and other AI leaders with both space and power for future projects while maintaining zero emissions.

Up to 2GW

The first phase of TerraSite-TX1 is expected to be completed in summer 2025, with an estimated investment of $450 million. This phase will deliver 50 MW of data center capacity, with a focus on cloud and AI cloud operators. The entire 1GW project is expected to cost approximately $8 billion, funded by ECL and its partners.

Ken Patchett, Vice President of Data Center Infrastructure at Lambda, the facility’s first tenant, said: “The data center technology that ECL is committed to is truly transformative in the industry. We believe ECL’s technology can unlock a powerful and environmentally conscious foundation for AI development. This new infrastructure could provide researchers and developers with critical computing resources while dramatically reducing the environmental impact of AI operations.”

ECL previously launched ECL-MV1, the first off-grid, hydrogen-powered modular data center with zero emissions, a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.05 and improved data density per rack. When operational, TerraSite-TX1 will receive hydrogen via three pipelines, minimizing the need for additional fuel transportation, and its modular design will allow for future expansion up to 2 GW.

The TerraSite-TX1 project comes at a critical time for Texas, where the state’s electric grid is expected to double its capacity needs by 2030 due to the expansion of data centers and AI.

“While others talk about delivering off-grid, hydrogen-powered data centers in five, ten or twenty years, only ECL is now giving the AI industry the space, power and peace of mind they and their customers need,” said Yuval Bachar, co -founder and CEO of ECL. “The level of innovation we have introduced to the market is unprecedented and will serve not only us and our customers, but the entire data center industry for decades to come.”