Fermi America Receives First Gas Turbines for Massive Texas Power-Data Center Project

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Written by Eric Funderburk for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land Texas)

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Summary

Fermi America, which is developing a multibillion-dollar data center and power complex in the Texas Panhandle, has received its first shipment of gas turbines from Siemens.

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The First Drop in the Power Bucket

Fermi America, a company planning a massive data center complex in the Texas Panhandle, said it has received its first natural gas turbines toward its goal of installing 1.1 gigawatts (GW) of power generation this year for what eventually will be 11 GW of generation overall, obtained from a mix of natural gas, solar, wind and nuclear installations.

Fermi was in part by founded by former Texas Governor and U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry and is headed by co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Toby Neugebauer, who faces ongoing lawsuits over the demise of his previous enterprise, financial technology firm GloriFi, which filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2023.

Fermi, despite having to pause construction for permitting reasons last week, has received six gas-fired turbines from Siemens Energy that it ordered in September.

The turbines, with their accompanying generators, are rated between 50 megawatts (MW) and 62 MW, so will provide approximately one-third of the 1.1 GW of power generation Fermi intends to construct this year on the roughly 5,800-acre site near Amarillo that is leased from Texas Tech University.

Other Fermi Power Orders

Around the time Fermi placed the Siemens order, the company reported it has also acquired "a set of three secondary market General Electric industrial gas turbines, and a paired steam turbine. The equipment was formerly in operation at a heavy industrial operation in New Jersey and will be refurbished." The Fermi orders of Siemens and GE turbines will contribute around 600 MW of power by the end of this year. Another 86 MW is expected to be delivered by January from Xcel Energy subsidiary Southwestern Public Service Company..

Ultimately, the facility will employ wind, solar and nuclear power, in addition to natural gas. Fermi has stated it intends to install 2.5 GW of small modular reactor (SMR) capacity and also has placed orders and applied to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the construction of four Westinghouse AP1000 conventional reactors, which are rated about 1,100-1,200 MW each.

In October, the U.S. agreed with Westinghouse and its owners to deploy $80 billion of new Westinghouse reactors in the U.S., with potential cash distributions and a possible equity stake for the U.S. down the road.

While no definitive schedule exists for the site's overall completion, Fermi hopes to have its nuclear installations in place by 2038.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Industrial Manufacturing and Power project databases can view a list of related project reports.

Project Challenges

To achieve such significant power construction to fuel a complex that could include more than 35 artificial-intelligence data center buildings, Fermi is operating on a fairly tight timeline and may, in fact, be jumping the gun in some regards.

This was apparent last week, when Fermi reportedly had to pause construction as it awaits an air quality permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Putting a positive spin on the situation, CEO Neugebauer said, "We completed our first phase so fast that we paused construction temporarily because we didn't want to risk getting a speeding ticket from TCEQ while awaiting our final Clean Air Permit." There has been no date set for when the permit may be issued, and community groups and watchdogs have raised concerns over displaced workers and the speed that the project is moving forward without permits in place.

While citizens are raising concerns in the Amarillo area, so are investors in the company, which raised $682.5 million in an October 2025 initial public offering (IPO) that valued Fermi America at $15 billion, despite never having previously built anything and an executive team with little data center experience.

In September, before the IPO, Fermi announced that it had signed a non-binding letter of intent with an initial anchor tenant for a 20-year lease that also would provide $150 million to fund construction costs of the multibillion-dollar project. When that prospective tenant pulled out of the non-binding agreement, Fermi's shares tumbled by more than 33%, prompting a class-action lawsuit from unhappy investors.

The class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of those who invested in the firm from October 1, 2025, to December 11 of that year, which includes the company's IPO. In essence, the lawsuit claims Fermi misled investors about the demand for its project and relied too heavily on a single prospective client to help fund construction. The deadline for plaintiffs to enter the case is March 6.

In the meantime, Fermi awaits its air permit, readies to install one-third of this year's planned gas generation, and presumably has many more equipment orders and construction decisions to make on a project that has more than 10 years remaining until its proposed completion.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can learn more by viewing the related project reports.

Key Takeaways

• Fermi America has received six gas-fired generators from Siemens Energy for a large planned data center complex near Amarillo, Texas.
• Fermi plans to install 1.1 GW of power generation at the site this year, leading ultimately to 11 GW of generation from gas, nuclear, wind and solar power.
• Fermi proposes having all of the power generation installed at the site by 2038.
• The company, which had its IPO in October, already faces a class-action lawsuit over misleading investors.

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About IIR News Intelligence
IIR News Intelligence is a trusted source of news for the industrial process and energy markets, powered by Industrial Info Resources' Global Market Intelligence (GMI).

About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 Trillion (USD).