{"id":"b26697a8-cfa3-4c44-9aa4-b37e912d9536","slug":"sandow-lakes-lee-county-texas","name":"Sandow Lakes Power / Data Center Campus","aliases":["Sandow Lakes Energy","SLEC"],"locationId":"d3cffef4-74af-4a4f-ba06-b762adcc0b24","lat":null,"lng":null,"locationPrecision":null,"landStatus":"former_industrial","lifecycleState":"under_construction","powerSourceMix":"behind_the_meter_gas","interconnectionQueueStatus":null,"interconnectionQueueId":null,"expectedEnergizationDate":null,"dedicatedSubstation":null,"gridOperator":"ERCOT","waterSourceNotes":null,"servingUtility":null,"acreage":null,"totalBuildingSqft":null,"streetAddress":null,"notes":"TCEQ issued a 1.2 GW gas power-plant air permit (Oct 2025) at Sandow Lakes Ranch near Blue in Lee County, ~50 miles east of Austin, on the former Alcoa smelter site, to power on-site data-center development; Gemma Power Systems (Argan) received notice to proceed on EPC. Named data-center tenants are not disclosed; a resident air-permit challenge was denied.","keyFacts":[{"label":"1.2 GW gas plant EPC (primary Argan / BusinessWire)","value":"Argan, Inc. announced via BusinessWire (Feb 6 2025) that subsidiary Gemma Power Systems executed an EPC contract for a 1.2 GW ultra-efficient natural gas-fired power plant in Lee County, Texas, developed by Sandow Lakes Energy Company, with completion targeted for 2028 ([Argan / BusinessWire, Feb 6 2025](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250206210188/en/Argan-Inc.s-Gemma-Power-Systems-Executes-EPC-Contract-for-a-1.2-GW-Power-Project-in-Texas))","sourceUrl":"https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250206210188/en/Argan-Inc.s-Gemma-Power-Systems-Executes-EPC-Contract-for-a-1.2-GW-Power-Project-in-Texas"},{"label":"Notice to proceed / Siemens turbines (reported EnergyTech)","value":"EnergyTech reported (Apr 9 2025) that Gemma received notice to proceed on the Sandow Lakes EPC, describing a combined-cycle station with two Siemens Energy SGT6-9000HL natural gas turbines (hydrogen-capable pathway), a Matterhorn pipeline tap, and Lee County / Giddings EDC interest in attracting data centers. Named data-center tenants were not disclosed ([EnergyTech, Apr 9 2025](https://www.energytech.com/home/article/55280902/rural-texas-county-welcoming-12-gw-gas-fired-project-to-seek-data-center-development))","sourceUrl":"https://www.energytech.com/home/article/55280902/rural-texas-county-welcoming-12-gw-gas-fired-project-to-seek-data-center-development"},{"label":"NTP backlog confirmation (primary Argan / BusinessWire)","value":"A follow-on Argan BusinessWire release (Apr 7 2025) confirmed Gemma received notice to proceed on the same 1.2 GW Lee County EPC with Sandow Lakes Energy Company, adding the project to Gemma's backlog. Treat plant MW as the generation project size; on-site IT load for any future data halls remains tenant- and phase-dependent ([Argan / BusinessWire, Apr 7 2025](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250407311389/en/Argan-Inc.s-Gemma-Power-Systems-Receives-Notice-to-Proceed-on-EPC-Contract-for-a-1.2-GW-Power-Project-in-Texas))","sourceUrl":"https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250407311389/en/Argan-Inc.s-Gemma-Power-Systems-Receives-Notice-to-Proceed-on-EPC-Contract-for-a-1.2-GW-Power-Project-in-Texas"}],"reviewStatus":"reviewed","sources":[{"url":"https://www.energytech.com/home/article/55280902/rural-texas-county-welcoming-12-gw-gas-fired-project-to-seek-data-center-development","date":"2026-02-10","title":"Rural Texas County Welcoming 1.2-GW Gas-Fired Project to Seek Data Center Development","publisher":"Energy Tech"},{"url":"https://www.texastribune.org/2026/02/02/texas-permian-basin-power-plant-project-data-centers/","date":"2026-02-02","title":"Huge Texas data centers will get their own gas power plants","publisher":"Texas Tribune"},{"url":"https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250206210188/en/Argan-Inc.s-Gemma-Power-Systems-Executes-EPC-Contract-for-a-1.2-GW-Power-Project-in-Texas","date":"2025-02-06","title":"Argan, Inc.'s Gemma Power Systems Executes EPC Contract for a 1.2 GW Power Project in Texas","publisher":"BusinessWire / Argan"},{"url":"https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250407311389/en/Argan-Inc.s-Gemma-Power-Systems-Receives-Notice-to-Proceed-on-EPC-Contract-for-a-1.2-GW-Power-Project-in-Texas","date":"2025-04-07","title":"Argan, Inc.'s Gemma Power Systems Receives Notice to Proceed on EPC Contract for a 1.2 GW Power Project in Texas","publisher":"BusinessWire / Argan"}],"reviewNote":null,"createdAt":"2026-08-17T20:23:41.219Z","updatedAt":"2026-09-29T07:44:45.285Z","location":{"id":"d3cffef4-74af-4a4f-ba06-b762adcc0b24","name":"Blue","slug":"blue-texas","kind":"city","parentLocationId":"45f67762-10f4-4255-be84-45c73efe25f9","region":"Texas","lat":33.9964854,"lng":-96.229987,"reviewStatus":"reviewed","aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"high","reviewNote":null,"createdAt":"2026-08-17T20:23:40.835Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-21T18:00:06.047Z"},"parties":[{"id":"a3fb0d1e-0959-4672-913f-9356560c69d7","dataCenterId":"b26697a8-cfa3-4c44-9aa4-b37e912d9536","companyId":null,"externalName":"Sandow Lakes Energy Company","role":"developer","structureNotes":"Owns power plant via subsidiary","createdAt":"2026-08-17T20:23:42.894Z","company":null},{"id":"cbe3ccd1-3776-4b06-96b2-f1c4105ce463","dataCenterId":"b26697a8-cfa3-4c44-9aa4-b37e912d9536","companyId":null,"externalName":"Gemma Power Systems (Argan Inc.)","role":"operator","structureNotes":"EPC contractor","createdAt":"2026-08-17T20:23:43.656Z","company":null},{"id":"533d9690-8bed-4087-86a0-7e1eab4be963","dataCenterId":"b26697a8-cfa3-4c44-9aa4-b37e912d9536","companyId":"e7d59434-cc22-4392-bfb2-817f64b171b5","externalName":null,"role":"construction","structureNotes":"Turbine supplier: two SGT6-9000HL hydrogen-capable natural-gas turbines.","createdAt":"2026-08-19T00:29:16.228Z","company":{"id":"e7d59434-cc22-4392-bfb2-817f64b171b5","name":"Siemens Energy","slug":"siemens-energy"}}],"capacityClaims":[{"id":"d0c44336-325f-4baa-a56a-66fdfb2d3c92","dataCenterId":"b26697a8-cfa3-4c44-9aa4-b37e912d9536","series":"announced","valueGw":1.2,"asOf":"2025-10-01T00:00:00.000Z","sourceUrl":"https://www.energytech.com/home/article/55280902/rural-texas-county-welcoming-12-gw-gas-fired-project-to-seek-data-center-development","sourceType":"permit","evidenceTier":"reported","supersedesId":null,"note":"1.2 GW gas plant to serve on-site data-center development; data-center MW not separately stated","createdAt":"2026-08-17T20:23:41.932Z"}],"financialClaims":[],"metricClaims":[],"powerProjects":[{"id":"531a1682-154b-422c-b5d6-7e5fc4b4016b","dataCenterId":"b26697a8-cfa3-4c44-9aa4-b37e912d9536","name":"Sandow Lakes Power Plant","type":"gas","capacityGw":1.2,"lifecycleState":"under_construction","sourceUrl":"https://www.energytech.com/home/article/55280902/rural-texas-county-welcoming-12-gw-gas-fired-project-to-seek-data-center-development","evidenceTier":"verified","note":"TCEQ air permit issued Oct 2025; Gemma/Argan NTP","createdAt":"2026-08-17T20:23:42.476Z"}],"facilities":[],"incidents":[],"events":[{"id":"e39b0e87-8dcc-4e9a-8345-6ff9922b602f","dataCenterId":"b26697a8-cfa3-4c44-9aa4-b37e912d9536","eventType":"party_added","series":null,"oldValue":null,"newValue":null,"claimId":null,"detail":"construction: e7d59434-cc22-4392-bfb2-817f64b171b5","occurredAt":"2026-08-19T00:29:16.611Z","createdAt":"2026-08-19T00:29:16.611Z"},{"id":"6442895b-178e-4b60-89d0-220bef380a4f","dataCenterId":"b26697a8-cfa3-4c44-9aa4-b37e912d9536","eventType":"party_added","series":null,"oldValue":null,"newValue":null,"claimId":null,"detail":"operator: Gemma Power Systems (Argan Inc.)","occurredAt":"2026-08-17T20:23:44.036Z","createdAt":"2026-08-17T20:23:44.036Z"},{"id":"051cc895-1a29-40b4-8e4f-bedf3098d3db","dataCenterId":"b26697a8-cfa3-4c44-9aa4-b37e912d9536","eventType":"party_added","series":null,"oldValue":null,"newValue":null,"claimId":null,"detail":"developer: Sandow Lakes Energy Company","occurredAt":"2026-08-17T20:23:43.273Z","createdAt":"2026-08-17T20:23:43.273Z"},{"id":"4d0465b5-7bd1-450b-ab48-724fd4b22d9c","dataCenterId":"b26697a8-cfa3-4c44-9aa4-b37e912d9536","eventType":"capacity_changed","series":"announced","oldValue":null,"newValue":"1.2","claimId":"d0c44336-325f-4baa-a56a-66fdfb2d3c92","detail":null,"occurredAt":"2026-08-17T20:23:42.244Z","createdAt":"2026-08-17T20:23:42.244Z"},{"id":"5690f53f-51c3-4941-99be-00ee90c7fff5","dataCenterId":"b26697a8-cfa3-4c44-9aa4-b37e912d9536","eventType":"claim_recorded","series":"announced","oldValue":null,"newValue":"1.2","claimId":"d0c44336-325f-4baa-a56a-66fdfb2d3c92","detail":"reported · permit","occurredAt":"2026-08-17T20:23:42.087Z","createdAt":"2026-08-17T20:23:42.087Z"}],"capacity_picture":{"announced_gw":1.2,"contracted_gw":null,"under_construction_gw":null,"energized_gw":null,"announced_minus_energized_gw":1.2,"by_series":{"announced":{"valueGw":1.2,"asOf":"2025-10-01T00:00:00.000Z","evidenceTier":"reported","sourceUrl":"https://www.energytech.com/home/article/55280902/rural-texas-county-welcoming-12-gw-gas-fired-project-to-seek-data-center-development"},"contracted":null,"under_construction":null,"energized":null}},"jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Place","name":"Sandow Lakes Power / Data Center Campus","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/datacenters/sandow-lakes-lee-county-texas","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","addressLocality":"Blue"}}}