NextEra CEO: NextEra has secured land in Texas to build a giant gas plant that will power data centers

NextEra Energy secured land in?Texas to build a gas-fired power plant that will be used to power a massive data?center. The project is backed by a U.S.Japan agreement.

Last week, the power provider revealed that President Donald Trump's administration had approved the construction of two gas plants totaling 10 gigawatts in Texas and Pennsylvania. This will help to meet the exploding electricity demands of data centers.

The $33 billion project would be developed by NextEra and operated by them, but jointly owned by the United States of America and Japan. This is part of an?overall trade agreement between the two nations.

NextEra has acquired land in Texas for its facility. It is?expected to be able to produce more than 5 GW,? CEO John Ketchum said at the CERAWeek Conference in Houston.

He said that the company had not yet bought land for its Pennsylvania site. Additional land and permits would also be needed.

Since early 2024 big technology companies are racing to secure massive amounts of power for data centers that will be used for training and deployment technologies such as artificial intelligence.

It is still unclear which of the many data centers projects involving power announced in the last two years will be built.

Ketchum stated that before?NextEra?s data center projects can progress significantly, the company must reach a definitive agreement, with the Japanese government.

He said: "Preliminary conditions and terms have been outlined, discussed, and agreed upon, but they must be incorporated into final agreements in order to move forward with these projects."

He added that the company would also have to secure more land and permit. Reporting by Laila K. Kearney, Houston

(source: Reuters)