Artificial Intelligence company plans to build data center in Ector County

ODESSA, Texas (KOSA) -New Era Helium, Inc. has signed a letter of intent to buy 200 acres in Ector County and develop a 250MW net-zero energy AI/HPC data center.

New Era Helium has a partnership with Sharon AI, Inc. a company that lauds itself as a High-Performance Computing business focused on Artificial Intelligence, Cloud GPU Compute Infrastructure and Data Storage.

Their joint venture is called Texas Critical Data Centers, LLC (“TCDC”).

It was signed with GROW Odessa. In a news release, the following statements were made by the companies involved:

E. Will Gray II, CEO of New Era Helium, Inc. commented: “With the initial site now identified, TCDC is poised to execute on its planned power strategy for the behind the meter data center campus. New Era Helium is pleased to be working with GROW Odessa and will work towards the necessary due diligence in order to close on the planned site in a timely manner. While working on the closing of the site in Ector County, the Company is in parallel working with certain contractors for the design and buildout of the 250MW data center campus. We are excited about what we are building within the Permian Basin and believe access to cheap and reliable power is key to attracting top tier partners.”

Wolf Schubert, CEO of Sharon AI, Inc. commented: “We are very excited to be developing large scale data center infrastructure in the U.S. with our partners at New Era Helium, who bring considerable energy infrastructure experience to the joint venture. We believe the recently announced Stargate Project, including companies such as OpenAI, Softbank and Oracle, which intends to invest hundreds of billions building new AI infrastructure in the United States, highlights the potential demand for large scale data center and power capacity.”

Russell Tippin, President of GROW Odessa, commented: “We are thrilled to be working with Sharon AI and New Era Helium on this new project intended to develop a large-scale, net-zero energy data center in Ector County, West Texas. Ector County and the Odessa area are the perfect fit for this net-zero energy data center project and we are proud that Sharon AI has chosen Ector County for this exciting new project. We are looking forward to working with Sharon AI and New Era Helium, Inc. along with the team at the Odessa Development Corporation to move this project to the finish line.

The acquisition of the large-scale, 200-acre site is contingent on completion of due diligence and negotiation of definitive documents expected within the next ninety days. This site is one of several identified by the joint venture and is located near key infrastructure, including fiber optic cable, two natural gas transmission lines, and CO₂ pipeline infrastructure. The intended utilization of CCUS and energy transition technologies makes it an attractive location for developing scalable, energy-efficient AI/HPC infrastructure.

Work has commenced on plans for the data center, natural gas-fired power plant and fiber connectivity, with the expectation of bringing the initial phase of the project online in late 2026. TCDC also expects to finalize a natural gas supply contract with New Era Helium in Q2 2025, providing low-cost energy and price stability for the project.

The next project milestones are expected to include updates on certain entitlements for the site, selection of power generation and CO2 capture technology, appointment of technology partners, as well as ongoing conversations with potential offtake partners, which may include hyperscalers and other large energy users.

Copyright 2025 KOSA. All rights reserved.