Childress County, Texas, will become home to a 1 GW artificial intelligence data center campus developed through a partnership between Crusoe and Lancium, with construction expected to begin in the third quarter of 2026.

The grid-connected campus will span 270 acres owned by Lancium, which will develop and manage the site’s energy infrastructure, while Crusoe will design, build and operate the AI data center facility. The project will support the advanced computing requirements of a leading hyperscale technology company, although the customer was not disclosed.

The development represents the second major data center site where Crusoe and Lancium are using the same partnership structure established in Abilene, Texas. Under the model, Lancium owns the land, secures power interconnection and manages energy operations, while Crusoe focuses on the data center design, construction and operations.

At full scale, the Childress campus will provide 1 GW of grid-connected capacity capable of supporting hundreds of thousands of advanced AI accelerators used for artificial intelligence training and inference workloads.

The project is expected to create thousands of local construction jobs and more than 100 long-term positions in Childress County. Crusoe and Lancium also plan to invest directly in local water and civil infrastructure while supporting community needs, including housing, education and emergency services.

“This campus represents a major milestone in Crusoe’s deep commitment to the state of Texas,” said Chase Lochmiller, co-founder and CEO of Crusoe. “Working with Lancium again, in the same partnership model we built together in Abilene, made Childress an easy choice for our next site.”

The campus will incorporate behind-the-meter solar generation and energy storage resources designed to improve grid reliability, energy efficiency and sustainability. The facility will also use a closed-loop, non-evaporative liquid cooling system to reduce water consumption.

Partnership expands beyond Abilene

The Childress project builds on the companies’ earlier collaboration in Abilene, where Crusoe broke ground in June 2024 on a Lancium-owned campus. Crusoe energized its first two buildings at the site within one year and later expanded plans for the campus to 1.2 GW. The company has also announced a separate 900 MW data center development on adjacent Lancium-owned land in Abilene.

Energy infrastructure strategy

Lancium’s role in the project reflects a growing approach in the data center sector where specialized energy infrastructure developers secure land, power access and grid connectivity before partnering with operators to build large-scale computing facilities.

The Childress campus will use the same model, with Lancium managing the energy infrastructure needed to support a large AI computing deployment while Crusoe handles the data center development and operations.

The Childress project follows a wave of large-scale AI infrastructure developments across the United States. In Georgia, the Sandersville data center campus recently secured a 20-year infrastructure lease with a confidential global technology company that could generate up to $11.6 billion in contract value, highlighting the growing demand for dedicated facilities capable of supporting advanced computing workloads.

Factsheet: Childress AI data center campus

• Location: Childress County, Texas
• Developers: Crusoe and Lancium
• Campus size: 270 acres
• Power capacity: 1 GW
• Construction start: Third quarter of 2026
• End user: Confidential leading hyperscale technology company
• Cooling system: Closed-loop, non-evaporative liquid cooling
• Energy features: Behind-the-meter solar and energy storage
• Construction jobs: Thousands expected
• Permanent jobs: More than 100