NextEra Energy Resources and Related Companies have been selected by the US Department of Commerce and the Republic of Korea to develop a $22.3bn energy hub to power an adjacent 5GW data centre campus in Encinal, Texas.
Working in partnership with Lewis Energy Group, the joint venture will build Project Star, a 6.47GW natural-gas-fired facility designed to supply the computing site while sending surplus electricity to the regional grid.
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The planned data centre campus is being privately funded and developed by Related Digital, an affiliate of Related Companies.
Supplying the computing hub with dedicated generation adheres to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s directive requiring data centres to provide their own power to reinforce the ERCOT system.
Under the project structure, Lewis Energy Group will provide the natural gas, land, and produced water in La Salle County, whilst NextEra Energy Resources will build and operate the generation facility.
NextEra Energy chairman and CEO John Ketchum said: “Project Star demonstrates how energy infrastructure and economic growth can advance together. By bringing new generation online to serve new demand, we’re helping strengthen reliability, support investment and jobs and protect electricity customers.
“We look forward to working with the Administration, the State of Texas, Related Digital and Lewis Energy Group to responsibly develop this project while building on our longstanding investment in Texas and its communities.”
The project forms part of a bilateral trade deal between the US and South Korea announced on 30 July 2025, alongside a strategic investment memorandum signed on 14 November the same year.
Both nations will jointly own the energy campus to foster cross-border collaboration across the energy and AI sectors, drawing on South Korean supply chains and technology.
Development will occur in phases, with initial power capacity targeted to come online as early as 2029, subject to regulatory permits and clearances.
The overall scheme is projected to support up to 8,400 jobs at peak construction, followed by roughly 170 permanent positions at the generation facility and hundreds of permanent operational roles across the neighbouring data centre campus.
