Meta Hyperion · Holly Ridge, Richland Parish, LA
Last change recorded 2026-10-04 · Last checked 2026-10-04
Latest: Third unit at Waterford online (planned) · New generation online · 2029-12-31 (plan) · recorded 2026-10-04
Served by Entergy Louisiana. LPSC approved three combined-cycle plants (2,260 MW) on 2025-08-20: two online in 2028, the third (Waterford) in late 2029; a $1.2bn 100-mile 500 kV line plus substations and eight 230 kV lines. In April 2026 the LPSC fast-tracked Entergy's application for seven more gas plants (about 7.5 GW with the first three). First phase announced for 2028; the campus is sized to 2 GW now and up to 5 GW later. · source ● primary, confidence high
Recorded readiness — 4 of 6 applicable milestones have a dated public record
Gate to first power — target 2028-01-01 (announced) · path: Grid, with new utility generation · each step must finish its lead time before the target
4 of 4 required steps have a public date. Red = recorded date past the rule-based deadline · grey "no public date" = required step without a record · green = on record in time · context steps never colour.
| Step | Must finish by | Others did it | Known date | Status | Basis | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Site secured (context) | 2026-10-01 (15 mo before) | 13 mo before (n=26) | 2024-12-20 | context | Campus announced (Richland Parish) · ● | |
| Permits in hand (context) | 2028-01-01 (0 mo before) | 4 mo after (n=8) | 2026-04-15 | context | LPSC fast-tracks seven more gas plants · ● | |
| Grid supply agreed | 2027-04-01 (9 mo before) | 7 mo before (n=11) | 2025-08-20 | on record in time | LPSC approves Entergy plants, 500 kV line and substations · ● | |
| Substation and lines energized | 2027-11-01 (2 mo before) | 15 mo after (n=1) | 2026-12-01 plan | plan inside the deadline | New power stations in service for a 1.8 GW load at Holly Ridge (Epoch timeline note; data center not yet operational) · ◐ | |
| New generation online | 2027-12-01 (1 mo before) | 12 mo after (n=1) | 2028-06-30 plan | plan 7 mo past the deadline | Two Entergy combined-cycle units online (planned) · ● | |
| Building ready for IT | 2028-01-01 (0 mo before) | 2 mo after (n=7) | 2026-04-19 | on record in time | Buildings 1 and 2 roofed, cooling at an advanced stage (Epoch timeline) · ◐ |
Lead-time assumptions
- Site secured 15 months before first power — Land under control and campus announced. Rarely binding; shown for context.
- Permits in hand 0 months before first power — Final air and siting permits. Operators often energize on standard or temporary authorisations and receive the major permit later; flagged only when the permit lands more than 6 months after first power or is missing for an on-site plant.
- Grid supply agreed 9 months before first power — Interconnection or large-load agreement approved. Observed median 7 months before first power; the physical works (substation, lines) run in parallel with construction.
- Substation and lines energized 2 months before first power — Utility delivery point live; final tests before the load is taken.
- New generation online 1 months before first power — Utility plant or on-site plant generating; needed just before energization when the grid cannot carry the load alone.
- Major equipment on site 6 months before first power — Turbines, transformers, switchgear delivered; installation and commissioning take the remaining months.
- Construction started 24 months before first power — Groundbreaking of the building that gives first power. Observed 4-26 months for recent AI campuses; Meta's redesigned campuses took 35-58.
- Building ready for IT 0 months before first power — First building ready for IT. 'Complete' or 'opened' is usually reported after first power; flagged only beyond 3 months.
- Full build-out complete -12 months before first power — All announced buildings operational. Comes after first power by design; context only.
- Water supply secured 12 months before first power — Water rights, municipal agreement or desalination contract in hand. Context only; one of the feasibility items.
- Financing closed 12 months before first power — Project financing, anchor lease or committed capital announced. Context only; not applicable when the owner is a hyperscaler building on its balance sheet.
Dated steps (from the sources; later dates are plans)
Power equipment (from permits, filings and reporting; blank cells were not disclosed)
| Category | Make / model | Units | MW | Status | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| combined-cycle gas turbine | — | 2 × 754 MW | 1.5 GW | under construction | 2028-10-31 | Entergy Franklin Farms: two 1x1 CCGT units (754 MW each) near Holly Ridge; hydrogen co-firing ready; operational late 2028; turbine OEM not confirmed · ◐ |
| combined-cycle gas turbine | Mitsubishi Power M501JAC | 1 × 754 MW | 754 MW | planned | 2029-12-31 | Entergy Waterford units 5-6 (St. Charles Parish) for the same load; late 2029; OEM per Compute Atlas · ○ |
Build-out timeline (Epoch AI; dated status notes with IT power; rows after today are estimates)
Recorded fact new generation online has a recorded date later than the rule-based deadline for a 2028-01-01 first power.
Calculated requirement Substation and lines energized must finish by 2027-11-01; the recorded plan is 2026-12-01. Under the current rule set the recorded dates plus their lead times give a first power no earlier than 2028-07-28 (7 mo after the announced target). This is a floor set by the record, not a forecast.
Sources (Epoch AI selection): Data center profile by Meta · Entergy's application for generation and transmission resources · MISO update with 1.8 GW substation plan · S&P Global ratings research with 2.064 GW campus details
Epoch AI, 'AI data centers', epoch.ai/data/ai-data-centers (CC BY 4.0); coordinates from GeoNames cities500 (CC BY 4.0) and hand-entered places; overrides in tools/project_overrides.csv with their own sources. Campuses outside the Epoch dataset come from tools/campuses.csv (public reporting, source per row). Data retrieved 2026-10-05. Report a correction to contact@ailoadmap.com (campus id meta-hyperion; include the row and a source link).