AI infrastructure provider Crusoe and modular nuclear power plant company Blue Energy announced the launch of a new partnership aimed at developing and operating a 1.5 GW nuclear-powered data center campus at the Port of Victoria in South Texas.
In order to support the rapid buildout of the campus, the new project will see Blue Energy deliver the world’s first gas-to-nuclear conversion, supplying natural gas-based power to the Crusoe-developed AI factory campus as early as 2028, transitioning to expected nuclear generation by 2031.
Founded in 2018 by CEO Chase Lochmiller and President Cully Cavness, Colorado-based Crusoe uses a vertically integrated model to build power and compute infrastructure in parallel to enable the rapid rollout of AI infrastructure, while also helping develop emerging clean energy sources to help them scale faster.
Blue Energy was founded in 2023 by Jake Jurewicz and Matt Slotkin, with a focus on significantly reducing the construction time to build new modular nuclear power plants to quickly deploy affordable, zero-emissions baseload electricity at a price that is competitive with fossil fuels and renewables.
Andrew Likens, Crusoe Vice President of Energy Infrastructure & Development at Crusoe said:
“Powering the AI revolution requires us to rethink energy, and Crusoe is dedicated to building the infrastructure to make it happen – infrastructure that demands access to abundant, reliable, and clean power. Blue Energy’s gas-to-nuclear approach delivers exactly what we need: unrivaled speed to market using existing fuel sources, combined with a clear, rapid transition to the massive, carbon-free baseload power that only nuclear power can provide.”
According to Blue Energy, the company’s plant design can reduce time to power to 36 months or less with a natural gas bridge, and cut construction costs. The company will prefabricate nuclear plants from existing parts, and builds the plants in existing shipyards, which it said can cut costs and reduce supply chain and labor procurement delays, in addition to shrinking the amount of reinforced concrete needed and simplifying construction.
The companies said that the 1,600 acre Texas campus for the project was selected due to factors including location, existing infrastructure, and available energy resources, with the site located in proximity to existing and planned transmission lines and fiber optic networks and offering access to one of the U.S.’ largest natural gas pipeline systems.
Jake Jurewicz, Blue Energy Co-Founder and CEO, said:
“This partnership with AI infrastructure leader Crusoe marks a key milestone for Blue Energy as we work to meet rising global energy demand and, for the first time in the nuclear industry’s history, build a plant with cost and schedule certainty.”
