Rural Texas County Welcoming 1.2-GW Gas-Fired Project to Seek Data Center Development

    April 9, 2025
    The county seat Giddings' economic development website notes that the region is full of wide-open land, only a 55-minute drive from the state capital of Austin and has an advanced telecommunications fiber optic network.
    Image of SGT6-9000HL gas-fired turbine credit Siemens Energy
    67f68e7a8d40a4a16941d4e9 Siemens Energy Sgt6

    Power generation project developers are preparing to build a 1.2-GW gas-fired plant in a rural Texas county intent on attracting new data centers as part of its economic development goals.

    Gemma Power Systems, part of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) parent firm Argan Inc., has received a notice to proceed on its EPC services contract to build the project in Lee County. Texas-based Sandow Lakes Energy Company (SLEC) is the partner and will develop and own the power plant through a subsidiary.

    Lee County has a population of about 18,000 people and includes hundreds of farms within its boundaries. The country seat is Giddings, TX., which is pursuing new growth through its Economic Development Corp. (EDC).

    The Giddings EDC website notes that the region is full of wide-open land, only a 55-minute drive from the state capital of Austin and has an advanced telecommunications fiber optic network. The website includes a section on potential data center locations.

    Gemma could start construction this summer with the goal of completing the Sandow Lakes power project in 2028. The combined cycle station will consist of two Siemens Energy SGT6-9000HL natural gas-fired turbines which will be hydrogen capable.

    The first SIemens SGT6-9000HL gas turbine was fired up five years ago this week at the Duke Energy Lincoln Combustion Turbine Station in North Carolina. The SGT6-9000HL will be 100 % hydrogen capable by 2030, Siemens says. 

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    “We’re thrilled to move forward with SLEC on this major power project,” Charles E. Collins IV, CEO of Gemma, said in a statement. “Their strong development efforts set the stage for success, and we look forward to working together. Expanding power infrastructure is essential to meeting rising energy demands, and our team is dedicated to delivering exceptional results.”

    The power plant will be located near a 24-inch tap off the Matterhorn Natural Gas Pipeline. The Matterhorn Express is a 580-mile pipeline delivering natural gas from the Permian Basin to the Katy area near Houston.

    Northern Virginia has been home to the largest share of new data center development in the U.S., but the rise of artificial intelligence training and hyperscale facility demand is pushing developers to look for access to available power generation as much as the already critical fiber optic connection. This anticipated future demand is driving new projects based on readily available natural gas production in the U.S.

    The Giddings EDC also owns and operates a 150-acre business park which has access to 3-phase electric and fiber optics.

    Various forecasts predict that about 50 GW of new data center capacity will come online nationwide by the early 2030s.

     

    About the Author

    Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

    For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

    Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

    He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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