Crusoe Energy has officially begun construction on the second phase of its data center expansion at the Lancium Clean Campus in Abilene, Texas. Expected to be completed by mid-2026, this phase will add six new buildings to the facility, bringing the total campus size to approximately four million square feet across eight buildings, with a total power capacity of 1.2GW.

The company first launched its AI data center project in Abilene in June 2024, with the initial phase consisting of two buildings, totaling 980,000 square feet and over 200MW of power capacity. That phase is set to be energized by the first half of 2025.

Originally, the site was slated to be leased to Oracle, who would then sublease it to Microsoft for use by OpenAI. However, with the January announcement of Stargate, OpenAI's $500 billion data center initiative backed by Oracle, it is believed that the contract has since transferred to the Stargate project.

While OpenAI has previously indicated the possibility of operating up to eight buildings at the Abilene campus, the specifics of the arrangement remain unclear. Crusoe has declined to comment on whether the new phase is intended for Stargate or another project.

In addition to the data center expansion, Crusoe recently announced a 4.5GW joint venture aimed at securing access to gas power, further bolstering its energy capabilities.

Industry Milestone

"Our expansion in Abilene marks a significant milestone for the industry," said Chase Lochmiller, co-founder and CEO of Crusoe. "The sheer scale of compute power concentrated here is remarkable, defining an entirely new category for digital infrastructure—the AI factory. Bringing this facility to life will enable intelligence to be manufactured with unprecedented speed and scale. Crusoe is proud to provide the infrastructure that will advance humanity forward by accelerating the proliferation and ambitions of AI."

Lancium, which operates the Clean Campus, also plays a key role in ensuring the energy efficiency of these massive data centers. Michael McNamara, co-founder and CEO of Lancium, highlighted the importance of campus-level innovation for grid reliability.

“Operating data centers at this scale and beyond demands campus-level innovation to ensure grid reliability under all workloads," McNamara explained. "We are very excited to showcase the Lancium Clean Campus and energy services model that pairs new behind-the-meter resources with the grid interconnect to transform large loads from potential risks to robust grid assets.”

Future of Data Center Infrastructure

This new phase of construction adds to Crusoe's broader vision of building infrastructure to support the growing demand for artificial intelligence and other high-powered computing needs. The scale and innovation in the Abilene campus are setting the stage for future advancements in the digital infrastructure sector.

Originally reported by Sebastian Moss in Data Center Dynamics.