The 2-gigawatt Sweetwater data center hub in West Texas has been conditionally classified as Base Load under the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ new Batch Zero interconnection process, developer IREN Limited said Sept. 8. The classification covers the two data center projects under construction that make up the hub — the 1,400-megawatt Sweetwater 1 and the 600-megawatt Sweetwater 2 — sited roughly 40 miles from Abilene.
Batch Zero is a one-time framework ERCOT built this year to work through a backlog of more than 438 gigawatts in large-load interconnection requests, nearly 89% of it from data centers, that had overwhelmed the grid operator’s old project-by-project review process. The Public Utility Commission of Texas approved the framework on June 18, and it took effect July 11. Rather than studying each application on its own, ERCOT is evaluating all qualifying loads of 75 megawatts or larger together, sorting them into three categories: Base Load, for projects that already completed ERCOT’s prior individual interconnection study; Studied Load; and Excluded. ERCOT notified applicants of their classifications by early August.
Base Load status effectively treats Sweetwater as verified, known demand rather than a speculative filing, though IREN said the ERCOT classification remains conditional and subject to further approval. ERCOT is not expected to issue final megawatt allocations to Batch Zero projects until spring 2027, after applicants clear additional data-submission deadlines in the coming months.
Sweetwater 1
Sweetwater 1 is the more advanced of the two data center sites, with construction underway. IREN energized its high-voltage substation on May 1, connecting the site to the ERCOT grid and clearing the way for construction of a 1,400MW bulk substation (345kV/138kV) alongside primary substations (138kV/34.5kV). Construction of 300MW of gross data center capacity is underway there now, with delivery targeted for the fourth quarter of 2027.
Sweetwater 2
Sweetwater 2 is also under construction, with its substation energization targeted for 2027. The site sits about 28 miles from Sweetwater 1. Combined, the two sites span 2,200 acres and are designed to support more than 700,000 liquid-cooled GPUs at full build-out, with multiple fiber paths that IREN says deliver sub-10-millisecond latency to the nearest hyperscaler regions.
IREN said additional, unnamed projects within its broader development pipeline also cleared into Batch Zero. Consistent with its practice on prior projects, the company said it will add them to its publicly announced portfolio only after executing grid connection agreements for each one.
Sweetwater is the largest single project in a global data center pipeline IREN now puts at more than 5 gigawatts, alongside its operating 750-megawatt Childress campus elsewhere in Texas — which already delivers liquid-cooled AI capacity to Microsoft — a site under development in Oklahoma, three hydroelectric-powered campuses in British Columbia, and recent expansions into Spain and Australia. IREN, which built its business mining Bitcoin before shifting toward AI cloud infrastructure, has named Sweetwater the flagship site for a strategic partnership with Nvidia announced in May, under which Nvidia’s DSX-aligned AI infrastructure is expected to anchor future deployments at the campus.
Hyperscale data center activity in West Texas
Sweetwater adds to a run of hyperscale data center activity in West Texas, where Galaxy Digital is building its Helios campus and the West Texas Alpha Digital Campus is advancing under a Liberty Energy-PowerBridge joint venture. Much of that buildout leans on new gas-fired generation coming online nearby, including Amazon’s 7.65-gigawatt GW Ranch plant in Pecos County.
ERCOT’s shift to batch processing reflects the scale of the backlog: the large-load queue runs to roughly five times the grid’s own current peak demand of about 85 gigawatts. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott added pressure of his own in June, directing state regulators to ensure data centers — not residential ratepayers — cover the cost of the transmission lines, substations and other grid upgrades their projects require.
IREN said it will continue coordinating with transmission and distribution service providers, grid operators, regulators and local communities as it develops future data center capacity.
Factsheet: Sweetwater Data Center Hub
Sweetwater 1
- Location: Sweetwater, Texas
- Cooling: Air and liquid
- Substation energized: May 1, 2026
- Status: Under construction
- Power capacity: 1,400 MW
- Land: 1,700 acres
Sweetwater 2
- Location: Sweetwater, Texas
- Cooling: Air and liquid
- Substation energization: Targeted for 2027
- Status: Under construction
- Power capacity: 600 MW
- Land: 500 acres
Combined hub
- Total power capacity: 2 GW
- Total land: 2,200 acres
- GPU capacity: 700,000+ liquid-cooled GPUs at full build-out
- Grid connection: Direct to ERCOT, with multiple fiber paths
Leave a Reply