ORIGINATION: Intersect Power pursuing 840 MW data center conversion at former green hydrogen project in TX panhandle
Intersect Power is seeking to transform its previously proposed green hydrogen project in Gray County, Texas into a multibillion-dollar data center campus.
The revised plan, now under consideration for a property tax abatement, marks a strategic pivot for the company amid shifting market dynamics. Intersect had previously planned to make green hydrogen via 400 MW of electrolysis powered by wind and solar plants, but filings show the company now plans to supply 840 MW of behind-the-meter data center load at the site.
The proposed data center, to be located east of Pampa in the Meitner Reinvestment Zone, would be built in up to three phases, with each phase representing an estimated USD 1bn in capital investment. If completed, the entire facility could support advanced computing applications and create approximately 40 full-time jobs across its phases.
According to the tax abatement application, construction on Phase 1 is expected to begin in early 2026 and be operational by late 2028. Each phase will include 600,000 to 750,000 square feet of data center space, along with ancillary infrastructure and electrical systems.
The site was originally conceived as a clean fuel hub powered by on-site renewables. Intersect’s presentation from late 2023 outlined plans for 340 MW of solar and 460 MW of wind generation to support hydrogen production. That concept now appears to have been supplanted by plans for a data center, though the renewable generation strategy remains key to the project’s design.
The new tax abatement request seeks 100% property tax relief for 10 years per phase. While the site previously received approval for a hydrogen-focused abatement in March 2024, Intersect is now pursuing a new agreement to reflect the updated data center use.
The Gray County Commissioners Court postponed a vote on the updated abatement request until its September 2 meeting, following a 30-day extension granted last week. The decision came after a public hearing in which some residents voiced opposition over transparency and land use concerns, while others spoke in favor of the project’s economic promise.
Intersect Power, through its development arm IP Meitner, LLC, emphasized the potential for long-term economic benefits, including over USD 50m in local tax revenue after the abatement period ends.
An Intersect representative did not respond to emails seeking comment.
A decision on the abatement is expected next month.
Meitner Wind and Solar
Amended interconnection agreements filed last month with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) show that Intersect Power plans to directly serve an 840 MW behind-the-meter load from its Meitner Wind and Meitner Solar projects in Gray County. The amended agreements, filed separately for each facility, outline a shared interconnection design where both generation sources—Meitner PV and Meitner Wind—connect to a common 345/34.5 kV substation and supply power internally to a large load at a power factor of 0.95.
The facilities will ultimately export excess generation to the ERCOT grid through a newly constructed 345 kV switchyard known as the Ghost Town Station. This switchyard connects to ERCOT’s broader transmission network via a new, approximately 14-mile, bundled double-circuit transmission line terminating at the Gray Substation.
Both projects are expected to be in service by October 26, 2027, according to the amended agreements signed June 12 by IP Meitner, LLC, a subsidiary of Intersect Power, and Cross Texas Transmission. The system layout, included as Exhibit C-1 in both documents, shows Meitner’s solar and wind arrays feeding a shared switchyard, which then routes power both to the ERCOT grid and to the 840 MW load.
Both agreements include new provisions to comply with Texas’s Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act, requiring the generator to certify that it is not owned or controlled by restricted foreign entities.
*This story was originally published exclusively for NPM US subscribers.
New Project Media (NPM) is a leading data, intelligence, and events business covering the US & European renewable energy and data center markets for the development, finance, advisory & corporate community.