Cleanview
Satellite images of Stargate Abilene. Captured April 13, 2026. © Airbus DS (2026)
- Developer / Operator: Crusoe
- End Customer: OpenAI (via Oracle)
- Location: Abilene, TX
- Total Planned Capacity: ~1.2 GW
- Grid Strategy: Hybrid — grid-connected to ERCOT with large-scale onsite gas generation
- Status: Phase 1 (200 MW) energized September 2025
Background
Crusoe, a former crypto mining company that has become one of the most important data center developers, is building Stargate Abilene for OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank as part of the consortium's giga-scale, multi-state project to build 10 GW of compute capacity. The facility energized its first 200 MW phase in September 2025.
Power Strategy
Stargate Abilene takes a hybrid approach, combining grid power with one of the largest onsite gas generation buildouts in the country. Crusoe has said that "the Abilene data center connects directly to the ERCOT grid, allowing us to primarily draw from the region's robust and growing supply of renewable energy."
But the company is simultaneously building substantial onsite generation. Crusoe installed 5 GE Vernova LM2500XPRESS aeroderivative gas turbines alongside Solar Titan 350 turbines, with a combined initial capacity of 360 MW, according to permit documents. Construction on the turbines began in December 2024 and finished in January 2026, according to our satellite image analysis for a total construction time of 13 months.
Crusoe expanded its GE Vernova commitment significantly, ordering 10 LM2500XPRESS units in December 2024, followed by an additional 19 units in June 2025, bringing the total to 29 turbines and nearly 1 GW. The company didn't specify deployment locations, but the ~1 GW of LM2500XPRESS capacity plus 180 MW of Titan 350 turbines aligns with Stargate Abilene's 1.2 GW total planned capacity, suggesting most or all could be destined for this site.
The hybrid strategy likely allows the data center to begin serving large training runs earlier than it could if it waited for 1 GW+ of grid capacity. The gas turbines may initially serve as primary power for training workloads, which don't require the same uptime guarantees as inference, before the full grid interconnection scales up. Once the grid connection is live, the turbines would shift to backup.
Generation Equipment
- GE Vernova LM2500XPRESS: Up to 29 units, ~1,000 MW
- Caterpillar Solar Turbines Titan 350: Multiple units, 180 MW
- Total: ~1,180 MW
Key Partners
- GE Vernova: Primary turbine supplier (29-unit LM2500XPRESS order)
- Caterpillar Solar Turbines: Titan 350 turbines
- Oracle: Cloud infrastructure operator and leaseholder
- OpenAI / SoftBank: Stargate consortium partners
Timeline
- June 2024: Land clearing at Stargate Abilene begins
- December 2024: First building shell complete; land clearing for turbines begins; Crusoe orders 10 units from GE Vernova
- January 2025: Crusoe files air permit application with TCEQ for BTM generation
- June 2025: Crusoe orders 19 more units from GE Vernova
- September 2025: Crusoe and OpenAI announce first 200 MW phase is operational
- January 2026: Crusoe finishes building 360 MW of BTM generation capacity