Goldman Partners in Financing 5-Gigawatt AI Power Projects in Texas
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is co-leading financing for an innovative project in Texas aimed at constructing private power campuses dedicated to artificial intelligence.
The New York banking giant is collaborating with real estate advisory firm Newmark Group Inc. to secure both equity and credit for this initiative. The project involves building modular, natural gas-fired generation facilities that will support a cluster of data centers located in south Dallas, as reported by developer GridFree AI. Newmark has also been appointed as the exclusive marketer and advisor for the data hub, known as South Dallas One.
In this initial funding round, the goal is to raise “hundreds of millions of dollars,” with additional rounds planned as the project scales up, according to Philip Krim, CEO of Montauk Capital, which incubated GridFree AI.
Goldman Sachs has opted not to comment on the project.
The current U.S. power system, which is rooted in Thomas Edison’s 19th-century grid design, is struggling to meet the electricity demands of today’s economy. Aging infrastructure is being increasingly strained by extreme weather conditions and unprecedented growth in demand. Consumers are facing rising power bills alongside a heightened risk of blackouts across large regions of the country.
“Edison’s grid was not built for the scale and size of these data centers,” Krim noted. “We decided to create a company focused on energy expertise to build a data center, fully aware of how energy-dense and energy-hungry these facilities are, to facilitate the AI buildout.”
Founded about a year ago, GridFree AI is led by Ralph Alexander, a nuclear engineer who previously served as the CEO of Talen Energy Corp. There, he oversaw the development of a data center campus adjacent to the Susquehanna nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. That campus was acquired by Amazon Web Services early last year and has since expanded into a 1.92 gigawatt supply contract with Talen. This co-location agreement has become a pivotal point in ensuring that tech giants contribute fairly to the costs of power plants and grid infrastructure, rather than shifting those expenses onto other consumers.
“South Dallas One represents the future of AI-ready infrastructure: fast to deploy, resilient by design, and insulated from the grid constraints that currently hinder the industry,” Alexander stated.
With land secured for two of the three planned sites, GridFree anticipates that initial power can be operational in less than 24 months from the signing of the lease, significantly faster than the traditional process of connecting to the Texas grid. Each site is designed to provide approximately 1.5 gigawatts of power, with structures to accommodate data centers. The plan includes building 100-megawatt modules—comprising 10 gas turbines for continuous power and two for backup—allowing for quick integration into projects, Krim explained.
This setup can be established on just 500 acres and will utilize minimal water resources, as waste heat from power generation will be captured to assist with cooling needs, he added.
While these AI campuses will operate independently, the ultimate goal is to connect to the Texas grid to supply excess power, according to Krim. Fuel for the gas plants will be sourced from two pipelines, including one owned by Energy Transfer LP, and no backup diesel generators will be necessary. GridFree AI has plans to develop campuses globally, with future expansions potentially including nuclear energy solutions.
Copyright 2025 Bloomberg.
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Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is co-leading financing for an innovative project in Texas aimed at constructing private power campuses dedicated to artificial intelligence.
The New York banking giant is collaborating with real estate advisory firm Newmark Group Inc. to secure both equity and credit for this initiative. The project involves building modular, natural gas-fired generation facilities that will support a cluster of data centers located in south Dallas, as reported by developer GridFree AI. Newmark has also been appointed as the exclusive marketer and advisor for the data hub, known as South Dallas One.
In this initial funding round, the goal is to raise “hundreds of millions of dollars,” with additional rounds planned as the project scales up, according to Philip Krim, CEO of Montauk Capital, which incubated GridFree AI.
Goldman Sachs has opted not to comment on the project.
The current U.S. power system, which is rooted in Thomas Edison’s 19th-century grid design, is struggling to meet the electricity demands of today’s economy. Aging infrastructure is being increasingly strained by extreme weather conditions and unprecedented growth in demand. Consumers are facing rising power bills alongside a heightened risk of blackouts across large regions of the country.
“Edison’s grid was not built for the scale and size of these data centers,” Krim noted. “We decided to create a company focused on energy expertise to build a data center, fully aware of how energy-dense and energy-hungry these facilities are, to facilitate the AI buildout.”
Founded about a year ago, GridFree AI is led by Ralph Alexander, a nuclear engineer who previously served as the CEO of Talen Energy Corp. There, he oversaw the development of a data center campus adjacent to the Susquehanna nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. That campus was acquired by Amazon Web Services early last year and has since expanded into a 1.92 gigawatt supply contract with Talen. This co-location agreement has become a pivotal point in ensuring that tech giants contribute fairly to the costs of power plants and grid infrastructure, rather than shifting those expenses onto other consumers.
“South Dallas One represents the future of AI-ready infrastructure: fast to deploy, resilient by design, and insulated from the grid constraints that currently hinder the industry,” Alexander stated.
With land secured for two of the three planned sites, GridFree anticipates that initial power can be operational in less than 24 months from the signing of the lease, significantly faster than the traditional process of connecting to the Texas grid. Each site is designed to provide approximately 1.5 gigawatts of power, with structures to accommodate data centers. The plan includes building 100-megawatt modules—comprising 10 gas turbines for continuous power and two for backup—allowing for quick integration into projects, Krim explained.
This setup can be established on just 500 acres and will utilize minimal water resources, as waste heat from power generation will be captured to assist with cooling needs, he added.
While these AI campuses will operate independently, the ultimate goal is to connect to the Texas grid to supply excess power, according to Krim. Fuel for the gas plants will be sourced from two pipelines, including one owned by Energy Transfer LP, and no backup diesel generators will be necessary. GridFree AI has plans to develop campuses globally, with future expansions potentially including nuclear energy solutions.
Copyright 2025 Bloomberg.
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