Data Center Census

Sweetwater, Fisher County, TX

IREN Sweetwater data center campus

Also known as Sweetwater 1, Sweetwater 2

Under constructionSweetwater 1 substation energized May 2026; data halls being built in phases
  1. Rumored
  2. Proposed
  3. Approved
  4. Under construction
  5. Operating

IREN (formerly Iris Energy) is building a 2 GW AI data center hub in West Texas made up of Sweetwater 1 (1.4 GW) outside Sweetwater in Fisher County and Sweetwater 2 (600 MW), about 28 miles away. IREN announced energization of the Sweetwater 1 substation in May 2026, with power ramping as data centers are built and commissioned. Sweetwater 2 is expected to be energized in 2027 or 2028.

Key facts

Size & schedule

Planned capacity2 GW [1]
grid connection capacity across both sites
Phase 1 capacity1.4 GW [1]
Sweetwater 1
Site size1,800 acres [1]
1,300 acres at Sweetwater 1 and 500 at Sweetwater 2, per IREN; DCD reported 1,700 acres for Sweetwater 1
Permanent jobs (promised)200 [5]
more than 200 operational staff expected
Target completionSweetwater 2 energization in late 2027 (IREN, 2025) or 2028 (DCD, 2026) [3]

Power

Grid operatorERCOT [6]
Source excerpt
“Energization marks the connection of the site's high-voltage substation to the ERCOT grid”
Power supplyERCOT grid; 345kV/138kV bulk substation at Sweetwater 1 [1]

Water

Coolingair and liquid cooling [1]

Figures are as stated by the cited source. Where sources disagree, each figure is shown.

Timeline

  1. IREN signs 600 MW grid connection agreement for Sweetwater 2, bringing the hub to 2 GW [3]

  2. IREN announces energization of the 1.4 GW Sweetwater 1 site [2]

  3. IREN announces NVIDIA partnership on AI-ready design; about 300 construction workers on site [5]

Sources

  1. Sweetwater Data Center | 2,000MW AI Campus in Texas
    IREN · company
  2. IREN Announces Successful Energization of Sweetwater 1
    IREN · May 1, 2026 · company
  3. IREN Secures 2.75GW for Data Centers in West Texas with New 600MW Grid Connection Agreement
    IREN · Mar 17, 2025 · company
  4. Iren energizes first phase of 2GW Sweetwater data center campus in Texas
    DatacenterDynamics · May 6, 2026 · news
  5. IREN partners with NVIDIA to develop AI-ready architecture for West Texas data center campus
    KTXS · May 28, 2026 · news
  6. IREN Announces Successful Energization of Sweetwater 1
    IREN · May 1, 2026 · company