Amazon-Backed Texas AI Campus Secures 7.65GW Gas Permit

Cleanview reported that Amazon has acquired the GW Ranch site in Pecos County, Texas, where a planned AI data centre campus would be powered at first by a large off-grid natural gas plant.

The permitted power project is unusually large for a single data centre development.

Air-permit records in the newsletter list 35 turbines with up to 7.65GW of nameplate capacity, while the permit also puts nominal delivered output at 5GW.

Texas Permit Allows Up To 33 Million Tons Of CO2

GW Ranch received a Texas permit in January allowing the gas plant to emit up to 33 million tons of carbon dioxide.

Cleanview compared that permitted ceiling with US power-plant emissions and found that, if fully used, it would exceed the country's largest coal plant, while noting that companies rarely emit the maximum allowed under their permits.

Amazon said the Pecos County campus would use new on-site generation, would not raise electricity costs for Texas families and was designed to move to grid-connected service when interconnection timelines allow.

The company also pointed to possible solar energy and battery storage at the site.

Thirty-Five Turbines Would Power The Campus Before Grid Connection

The project starts as a behind-the-meter power build rather than a conventional grid-supplied cloud campus.

The power plant would initially sit outside the Texas electricity grid, matching a wider pattern in which AI data centre developers seek their own generation to avoid interconnection delays and local grid constraints.

Amazon's statement also put water use into the operating design.

The company plans to use non-potable, brackish groundwater that is not suitable for drinking water or irrigation, rather than drawing directly on potable local supplies.

State Filings Show Three Data Centre Buildings

Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation records show three Amazon construction permits for data centre buildings at the site.

Cleanview reviewed satellite imagery and found land clearing had begun at the location named in GW Ranch's air-permit records, with imagery captured on July 24, 2026.

The project would change Amazon's own power model.

Cleanview identified the campus as Amazon's first major investment in an off-grid data centre arrangement after earlier data-centre operations used grid electricity.

AI Demand Is Pressing Against Supply

Amazon's capacity problem is visible in its own investor messaging.

Chief executive Andy Jassy told investors on July 30 that AWS grew at its fastest rate in 18 quarters because of AI demand and that Amazon had more demand for compute than its data centres could supply.

Cleanview counted nearly 60 announced behind-the-meter gas power projects for data centre developers since the start of 2025, with combined capacity of 90GW, although not all have moved to construction or tenant commitments.

Microsoft's nearby Pecos project gives the regional comparison.

In June, Microsoft announced a Chevron partnership for a data centre campus about 30 miles west of GW Ranch, with 2GW of off-grid natural gas generation.

Amazon Still Lacks A Final Operating Timetable

The GW Ranch plan also carries gaps that matter for execution.

The public record identifies the site, permits, turbine scale, emissions ceiling, construction filings and Amazon's role, but it does not give a final operating date, construction cost, grid-connection schedule, power-purchase terms or the share of capacity that Amazon will ultimately use.