Construction has been started by Fluidstack on the first phase of a $4 billion artificial intelligence data centre campus in Cameron County, which represents one of the largest technology infrastructure investments intended for the Rio Grande Valley.
The project will extend over 1,100 acres close to Rio Hondo, lying between Valley International Airport and the Port of Harlingen. Fluidstack, which is an AI infrastructure company, anticipates that the project will result in more than 2,500 construction jobs as well as a number of permanent posts when the campus goes into operation.
The company states that the project is being carried out in line with the new standards in Texas, set by Governor Greg Abbott, the Public Utility Commission of Texas, ERCOT, and Cameron County.
A key element of Fluidstack’s plan is its promise to fund its own energy, infrastructure and water needs. The company has neither asked for nor obtained any local property tax reductions or county incentives and plans to pay the full amount of local property taxes. Fluidstack anticipates that the project will contribute millions of dollars each year to local schools and county services.
Water conservation is also a key aspect of the development. The campus will make use of a closed-loop cooling system which will continuously recycle its water. The company Fluidstack states that the tank of the system will contain less water than an Olympic-sized swimming pool and will only need to be filled at the beginning before then recycling the water during operations.
The water will come from the East Rio Hondo Water Supply Corporation and not from a municipal water system.
Local and state authorities have welcomed the project, especially since Fluidstack has promised to pay for its own infrastructure costs and to reduce the project’s effect on regional water and electricity resources.
The company is also committed to giving preference to local hiring whenever possible, covering jobs such as construction, electrical work, and operations that might not require four-year college degrees. Agreements providing additional benefits to the community are currently being negotiated with local leaders and will be made public once finalized.
The $4 billion project comes at a time when Texas is seeing rapid growth in both AI and data center development, yet it also introduces stricter requirements designed to prevent large technology projects from passing their infrastructure costs on to residents.
The Cameron County site operated by Fluidstack might become a major new technology and jobs center for the Rio Grande Valley and could serve as an early example of how developers are adapting to Texas’ changing data center standards.
