Inside Project Matador 

The World’s Largest AI Campus Is Already Being Built in the Texas Panhandle 

Fermi America and Texas Tech are constructing a massive AI energy campus near Amarillo. Here is where the project stands today, including new developments from the past week. 

Project Matador, the flagship initiative of Fermi America co-founded by former U.S. Energy Secretary and Texas Governor Rick Perry, is the world’s largest planned private grid AI campus. Construction is already underway outside Amarillo.  

Interstate Moving has been tracking this project since its announcement last summer. A great deal has happened since then. 

What Is Being Built 

Fermi America announced its partnership with the Texas Tech University System in June 2025. The original campus lease covers 5,769 acres in Carson County, Texas, adjacent to Pantex, the nation’s primary nuclear weapons assembly facility, though Fermi’s development footprint has since expanded to approximately 7,570 acres as it has pursued additional land acquisitions. At full buildout, the Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus will house up to 18 million square feet of AI data centers and generate up to 11 gigawatts of IT capacity from a combination of clean natural gas, nuclear, solar, and battery storage. 

The campus is structured in phases. Fermi’s original timeline projected 1.1 gigawatts of Phase One capacity by the end of 2026, but the company’s annual report filed in late March 2026 disclosed a revised target: approximately 2.0 gigawatts of gas fired and grid supplied power by the end of 2027, subject to tenant lease execution, project financing, construction, and permitting milestones. Phase Two remains projected for completion by the third quarter of 2027. The full buildout runs through 2038 at total estimated costs between $70 and $90 billion. 

The site sits at the intersection of several of the nation’s largest natural gas pipelines, atop one of the country’s largest known natural gas reserves. That geology, combined with proximity to Pantex and existing federal energy infrastructure, shaped the decision to build there. 

A Year of Milestones 

Fermi America has moved through a compressed timeline since the project was publicly announced. Below is a chronological summary of key developments. 

Summer 2025 

Geotechnical work begins on the campus. Fermi and the Texas Tech University System execute a 99-year lease, designating TTU as Fermi’s exclusive Texas university research partner and establishing obligations for workforce training, internships, and scholarship programs across all five TTU System institutions. 

Fall 2025 

Fermi secures more than 600 megawatts of gas turbine assets, including six SGT800 gas turbines, heat recovery steam generators, and a steam turbine sourced through agreements with Firebird LNG in conjunction with Siemens Energy. The assets are cleared to ship to the campus. 

Fermi also executes a $150 million Advance in Aid of Construction Agreement with a prospective anchor tenant whose identity has not been confirmed publicly, though the campus lease lists 23 potential candidates including Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Apple, and Nvidia. 

Separately, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepts Fermi’s Combined Operating License application for review in September, the first such application for a large light-water reactor accepted by the NRC in more than 15 years. 

February 2026 

Fermi closes on more than $700 million in committed institutional financing, including a $500 million turbine warehouse facility from MUFG Bank and an initial draw on a $200 million equipment facility from Keystone National Group and Cape Commercial Finance. Proceeds fund the procurement of high-voltage assets including utility-grade breakers, transformers, substations, and switchgear. Construction crews are photographed installing power infrastructure on-site. 

Late February 2026 

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approves Fermi’s first Clean Air Permit for approximately 6 gigawatts of natural gas generation capacity — the second-largest such permit in the nation. 

March 11, 2026 

Fermi America’s Chief Nuclear Construction Officer addresses the NRC’s Regulatory Information Conference, disclosing formal contractual partnerships with South Korean firms Hyundai E&C and Doosan Enerbility as the construction and manufacturing partners for the AP1000 reactor program. Fermi announces a proposal to break ground on nuclear construction on July 4th. 

March 13, 2026 

Fermi announces its intention to file an additional 5-gigawatt Clean Air Permit with TCEQ, expanding the campus ambition to approximately 17 gigawatts of total private power: 11 gigawatts of clean natural gas, 4.4 gigawatts of nuclear energy, and additional solar and battery storage. 

March 19, 2026 

The NRC publishes its notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for Fermi’s Combined Operating License application, covering four AP1000 reactors designated as Project Matador Nuclear Units 1 through 4. The NRC selects Project Matador as the inaugural participant in its accelerated environmental review pilot program. Public comments on the scope of the EIS are due April 20, 2026. 

March 27, 2026 

Fermi files its additional 5-gigawatt Clean Air Permit application with TCEQ, formalizing the expanded power ambition. 

April 1, 2026 

Two financing announcements push Fermi’s total committed capital past $1 billion. The first is a $156.25 million senior unsecured promissory note from Yorkville Advisors. The second is a $165 million senior secured term loan from CSG Investments and Beal Bank USA, structured to cover remaining progress payments on six Siemens Energy SGT-800-57 gas turbines rated at 57 megawatts each, with deliveries scheduled in pairs throughout 2028. 

One development worth monitoring: on April 1, Fermi’s stock declined sharply amid ongoing fallout from a federal securities class action lawsuit filed in January 2026, which alleges that Fermi misrepresented tenant demand for Project Matador. Investor concern remains focused on the company’s dependence on its unconfirmed anchor tenant. Fermi has not addressed the allegations in detail. Given how much of the project’s near-term credibility rests on Phase One tenant confirmation, this is a thread to watch. 

The Nuclear Program 

The nuclear component of Project Matador is the most ambitious element of the buildout and the most consequential for the long-term energy picture. 

Fermi’s Combined Operating License application calls for four Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactors, each rated at approximately 1 gigawatt. The original COLA filing projected construction on the first reactor beginning in 2026, with operations by April 2031. However, more recent disclosures, including documents presented at the March 2026 NRC Regulatory Information Conference, indicate that full nuclear construction is now expected to begin in 2027, with the first AP1000 targeted for deployment in 2033. 

The AP1000 design relies on passive safety systems capable of cooling the reactor without human intervention or external power. On water consumption, Fermi has committed to air cooled condenser systems for the reactors, projecting water use under 50-acre feet per year for the nuclear units. Data center cooling will use a hybrid air-and-water approach once the reactors are operational. 

The Korean partnerships with Hyundai E&C and Doosan Enerbility carry significant weight. Both firms have built AP1000-class reactors and are aligned with U.S. trade policy under the recently approved Korean trade deal. Fermi’s CEO has indicated that federal approval for Korean investment in the project would make it the only nuclear site in the country ready to break ground in the near term. 

Why This Matters Beyond Texas 

Projects like Matador are driving one of the largest infrastructure buildouts in American history. According to JLL’s North America Data Center Report, more than 35 gigawatts of data center capacity is under construction across North America. Texas alone accounts for 6.5 gigawatts of that pipeline, and JLL projects that Texas could surpass Northern Virginia as the largest data center market in the world by 2030. 

The scale of physical infrastructure being deployed requires a sustained, skilled workforce. Fermi’s campus alone is expected to create thousands of construction and operations positions in the Texas Panhandle. The TTU partnership adds a structured workforce development layer, with Fermi obligated to support internships, employment pipelines, and training programs across all five TTU System institutions. Within one year of Phase One completion, Texas Tech will receive a 15-acre sublease on the campus for academic and research facilities. 

“We’re going to make this work. We’re going to do it thoughtfully, wisely, use our resources in an appropriate way. And America will be better, the Panhandle will be waving that American flag proudly.” 

— Rick Perry, Co-Founder, Fermi America | KFDA NewsChannel 10, October 2025 

For companies in corporate relocation, logistics, and facility services, this buildout represents years of sustained activity in communities that were not previously on the national infrastructure map. The Carson County area, the Amarillo region, and the wider Texas Panhandle are entering a period of significant inbound workforce movement. 

What to Watch 

Several milestones will define the next chapter of Project Matador. 

Anchor tenant confirmation remains the most consequential near term development and the most uncertain, given the pending class action and revised Phase One timeline. The NRC’s public comment period for the EIS closes April 20, after which the environmental review process moves forward under the accelerated pilot timeline. TCEQ’s action on the second 5-gigawatt Clean Air Permit will determine the regulatory footing for the expanded 17-gigawatt ambition. And the proposed July 4 nuclear groundbreaking, if it proceeds, would mark a historic moment for domestic energy infrastructure. 

Interstate Moving will continue tracking Project Matador as construction advances and the workforce and relocation dimensions of this story come into focus. 

Interstate Moving | Relocation | Logistics supports corporate and government clients navigating complex relocations across the United States. To learn how Interstate supports facility transitions, workforce moves, and large-scale project logistics, visit moveinterstate.com.