NextEra Energy is working with Exxon Mobil, the country’s largest oil company, to build a large data center site powered by natural gas for a potential tech customer, CEO John Ketchum told investors Monday
The 1.2 gigawatt power plant would combine gas generation with Exxon’s carbon capture technology to reduce emissions, according to NextEra’s presentation to investors.
They plan to market the site to a hyperscaler in the first quarter of 2026. Hyperscalers are the big tech companies that are building data centers to train and run artificial intelligence applications. There is no signed agreement with a hyperscaler yet.
NextEra and Exxon have secured 2,500 acres of land for the facility. The site will be located in the Southeast in close proximity to Exxon’s carbon dioxide pipeline infrastructure, according to NextEra.
NextEra shares closed about 3% lower on Monday.
Exxon declined to comment on the partnership, but said its “projects are making progress, and we appreciate our partners who add strategic value.”
A person familiar with the matter told CNBC that the project is a memorandum of understanding that is in its early stages.
The oil major announced last year that it was developing natural gas solutions for data centers. CEO Darren Woods said in October that Exxon is in advanced discussions with potential customers and partners on data centers.
NextEra is the largest renewable energy developer in the U.S., but it is leaning into natural gas to meet the growing demand from data centers. The power company plans to bring as much as 8 gigawatts of gas generation online by 2032, and is developing a pipeline of 20 gigawatts of gas generation.
NextEra plans to build 15 gigawatts of power for data center hubs by 2035, Ketchum said. That includes at least three data center campuses that NextEra is developing with Alphabet‘s Google.
“A lot of those will get started with what I call bridge power — renewables, storage,” the CEO said. “We’re also at that same time planning for the gas to come behind it.”
The tech sector has primarily secured renewables and increasingly nuclear power to supply data centers in an effort to meet its climate targets.
