ECL plans to construct a 1GW hydrogen-powered AI data center in Texas, with Lambda as its inaugural tenant.

Data center startup ECL claims that it will build a 1GW AI data center on a more than 600-acre site east of Houston, Texas, powered by hydrogen.

The TerraSite-TX1 will initially have a capacity of 50MW, coming next summer, at a cost of around $450 million. AI cloud provider Lambda will be the first customer, but is not taking the whole 50MW.

“The data center technology committed to by ECL is truly transformative in the industry,” said Ken Patchett, Lambda's VP of data center infrastructure.

“We believe ECL’s technology could unlock a powerful and eco-conscious foundation for AI advancement. This new infrastructure could give researchers and developers essential computational resources while drastically reducing the environmental impact of AI operations.”

“While others talk about delivering off-grid, hydrogen-powered data centers in five, ten, or 20 years, only ECL is giving the AI industry the space, power, and peace of mind they and their customers need, now,” said Yuval Bachar, co-founder and CEO of ECL.

“The level of innovation that we have introduced to the market is unprecedented and will serve not only us and our customers but the entire data center industry for decades to come.”

ECL is currently seeking funding for the entire $8 billion project, following its initial deployment. It raised $10m from Hyperwise Ventures earlier this year.