ECL reveals 1 GW off-grid, hydrogen-powered AI Factory data centre

Data Center-as-a-Service pioneer ECL, which unveiled the world’s first off-grid, sustainable, modular, built-to-suit data center on June 20, 2024, will build the first fully sustainable 1GW AI Factory data center – ECL TerraSite-TX1 on a 600+ acre site east of Houston. The initial phase of TerraSite-TX1 will be delivered in the summer of 2025 at a cost of approximately $450M, with 50MW of data center capacity to be utilized by data center cloud and AI cloud operators. The entire 1GW site will be constructed at a cost of approximately $8B, with funding to be provided by ECL and financial partners.

ECL has made breakthrough strides in addressing critical challenges in the data center industry, as exemplified by the launch of ECL-MV1 – now in full production – the world’s first off-grid, green hydrogen-powered modular data center that operates 24/7 with zero emissions, minimal noise, and a negative water footprint, replenishing water to the community. It offers a 10x increase in energy efficiency with a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.05 and a 7x improvement in data density per rack, ideal for AI high-density demands.

Gartner predicts that by 2030, AI could consume up to 3.5% of the world’s electricity. “AI consumes a lot of electricity and water. This negative impact should be mitigated,” said Pieter den Hamer, VP Analyst at Gartner. “Executives should be cognizant of AI’s own growing environmental footprint and take active mitigation measures. For example, they could prioritize (cloud) data centers powered by renewable energy”.1

Designed specifically for the development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, the site will also provide space for tenants’ AI experts, researchers, data scientists and engineers to collaborate to create cutting-edge AI solutions. Hydrogen will be provided by three separate pipelines that converge at the site, eliminating the need for additional fuel transportation. The initial 1GW phased development may be expanded to 2GW in the future, enabled by its modularity and based on customer demand.

ECL provides the data center industry’s lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and the fastest time-to-market, along with unmatched flexibility in location, size, and density. ECL data centers are modular, allowing for easy expansion in 1MW increments, and are built to suit and delivered in less than 12 months, vs. the industry standard of 36 to 48. By eliminating the environmental impact associated with traditional data center development and utilization, they also give AI consumers – both corporate and individual – assurance that their use of AI is not expanding their carbon footprints.

ECL's AI infrastructure is enhanced by its advanced AI data center management system, ECL Lightning™, which offers real-time monitoring and micro adjustments control over every aspect of data center operations, from power generation to rack cooling. Its user-friendly interface provides comprehensive visibility and configuration capabilities, ensuring optimal performance for AI and other workloads. ECL's proprietary cooling innovations include using water from hydrogen-based power generation, along with patent-pending quadruple loop and direct-to-chip cooling technologies for its extremely high-density racks.

ECL Terrasite-TX1 comes at a critical time for the state of Texas, with The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) testifying on June 12 this year that the state’s power grid needs will grow approximately 2X by 2030, due in part to the growth of data centers and AI. In response, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick posted to X that, “We want data centers, but it can’t be the Wild Wild West of data centers and crypto miners crashing our grid and turning the lights off.” ECL Terrasite-TX1 is purpose-built to reduce the increased strain on the state’s power grid while facilitating the growth of the AI industry.

“While others talk about delivering off-grid, hydrogen-powered data centers in five, ten, or 20 years, only ECL is giving the AI industry the space, power, and peace of mind they and their customers need, now,” said Yuval Bachar, co-founder and CEO of ECL. “The level of innovation that we have introduced to the market is unprecedented and will serve not only us and our customers but the entire data center industry for decades to come.”