Energy technology and infrastructure firm Lancium has secured a $600 million debt financing package to accelerate development of its 1.2-gigawatt Clean Campus in Abilene, Texas, a critical launchpad for the Stargate initiative—a U.S.-based hyperscale AI data center network backed by SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX.
Lancium touts the Abilene facility as the future of sustainable AI infrastructure and will launch it as the first campus under the Stargate banner. Moreover, the company designed it to support massive cloud and artificial intelligence workloads using custom-built substations and power delivery systems. As a result, this investment ranks among the largest recent debt financings in the clean digital infrastructure sector.
“This financing marks a pivotal milestone for Lancium,” said Michael McNamara, Lancium’s CEO and Co-Founder. “It not only validates the strength of our platform and assets but also creates a scalable foundation to expand digital infrastructure in Texas and beyond.”
Project Factsheet: Lancium Clean Campus – Abilene, TX
Location: Abilene, Texas
Capacity: 1.2 gigawatts (GW)
Purpose: AI and cloud workload compute campus
Affiliation: First site in the Stargate initiative
Backers of Stargate: SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, MGX
Power Source: Clean energy infrastructure with custom substations
Use of Funds: Abilene site development and future campus expansion
Lead Arranger: Santander Corporate & Investment Banking
Strategic Advisor: Cantor Fitzgerald
Strategic Advisors in Play
The complex financing deal was orchestrated with Santander Corporate & Investment Banking acting in multiple capacities, including sole underwriter and administrative agent. Cantor Fitzgerald served as the sole strategic advisor.
“As AI reshapes the global economy, the convergence of massive compute demand and sustainable power has, consequently, become unavoidable,” said Nuno Andrade, Global Head of Structured Finance Digital Infrastructure at Santander CIB. “Lancium is at the forefront of this intersection.”
Similarly, Hari Chandra, Cantor Fitzgerald’s Global Head of Power, Energy, and Infrastructure, noted, “Lancium is pioneering the clean energy and digital infrastructure transformation. This transaction, in turn, lays the foundation for sustainable, long-term growth.”
Stargate: A Bet on U.S. AI Infrastructure Sovereignty
Lancium’s Clean Campus is the first site in the Stargate initiative, a multi-stakeholder effort to build a U.S.-based AI compute backbone amid growing concerns over domestic capacity and energy sustainability. With support from major backers including OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, the initiative is a strategic response to the surging demand for AI compute tied to large language models and advanced machine learning workloads.
Lancium’s campus is unique in its dual focus: deploying high-density compute environments while tapping into renewable power sources to lower carbon intensity and grid stress. The company, founded by McNamara and other energy veterans, has long aimed to co-locate data centers with clean energy resources to optimize cost and environmental impact.
The $600 million will be used to build out the Abilene site and potentially other campuses in Lancium’s portfolio, reflecting increasing investor appetite for clean-powered digital infrastructure.
Additionally, on September 23, 2025, OpenAI announced five new data center locations as part of its Stargate initiative. With this expansion, Stargate now approaches 7 gigawatts of planned capacity and represents over $400 billion in projected investment over the next three years.
Powering the AI Era Sustainably
As AI companies face increasing pressure to scale responsibly, firms like Lancium are, accordingly, emerging as critical enablers—bridging the gap between compute-hungry workloads and sustainable infrastructure. In turn, the latest financing package could catalyze a wave of similar deployments, as institutional capital continues to pursue climate-aligned growth in the data center sector.
“Our Clean Campus in Abilene represents the future of compute, designed for AI and hyperscale, and built to benefit both our partners and the communities we serve,” McNamara said.
Lancium’s development also underscores Texas’s continued evolution as a hub for next-generation infrastructure, thanks to its deregulated energy markets and abundant land and renewable resources.
