OpenAI Stargate Abilene · Abilene, TX
Last change recorded 2026-10-04 · Last checked 2026-10-04
Latest: Buildings 5-8 estimated operational (Epoch) · Full build-out complete · 2026-11-01 (plan) · recorded 2026-10-04
Crusoe campus for Oracle/OpenAI. Two buildings (200+ MW) live September 2025; six more buildings to 1.2 GW across eight were announced for completion by end of 2026 (Epoch estimates the last buildings in November 2026). Air permit covers about 360 MW of behind-the-meter simple-cycle turbines (ten units) for on-site use; the rest is AEP grid power including local wind. Parker Hannifin equipment for more than 1 GW of gas turbines was announced for the campus. A third Crusoe campus of 900 MW for Microsoft was announced next door on 2026-03-27. · source ◐ secondary, confidence medium
Recorded readiness — 3 of 6 applicable milestones have a dated public record
Gate to first power — target 2025-09-30 (announced) · path: Hybrid: on-site bridge, then grid · each step must finish its lead time before the target
2 of 2 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) | 2024-06-28 (15 mo before) | 13 mo before (n=26) | 2024-05-31 | context | Site work begins · ◐ | |
| Major equipment on site | 2025-03-28 (6 mo before) | 9 mo after (n=1) | 2026-06-30 | recorded 15 mo after the deadline | On-site turbine fleet beyond the first 360 MW (announced, >1 GW of turbines) · ◐ | |
| Building ready for IT | 2025-09-28 (0 mo before) | 2 mo after (n=7) | 2025-09-26 | on record in time | First two buildings live (200+ MW) · ◐ | |
| Full build-out complete (context) | 2026-09-28 (-12 mo before) | — | 2026-11-01 plan | context | Buildings 5-8 estimated operational (Epoch) · ◐ |
This site is energized; lights only show how its recorded steps compared with the lead times.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gas turbine | Solar Turbines (Caterpillar) Titan 350 | 5 × 38 MW | 190 MW | operating | 2025-09-26 | Behind-the-meter simple-cycle fleet under the TCEQ standard permit approved 2025-01-22 · ◐ |
| gas turbine | GE Vernova LM2500 | 5 × 34.1 MW | 171 MW | operating | 2025-09-26 | Aeroderivative units in the same 360 MW standard-permit fleet · ◐ |
| diesel genset | — | 62 | — | operating | 2025-09-26 | Backup diesel generators on the existing campus · ◐ |
| gas turbine | — | 41 | 1.4 GW | permit pending | 2026-07-15 | Major TCEQ permit filed July 2026 for 41 more turbines (about 1.4 GW) plus 18 diesel gensets; contested by residents · ◐ |
Build-out timeline (Epoch AI; dated status notes with IT power; rows after today are estimates)
Recorded fact major equipment on site has a recorded date later than the rule-based deadline for a 2025-09-30 first power.
Calculated requirement Energized; watch the build-out timeline for the next buildings.
Sources (Epoch AI selection): Crusoe 2024 Impact Report, with details on Abilene · Air Permit Application for buildings 1-2, featuring blueprints on p.157 · Mortensen’s profile of the project, with details of substations
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 openai-stargate-abilene; include the row and a source link).