Three Siemens Energy SGT6-5000F turbines with a combined capacity of 780 megawatts in simple-cycle mode arrived at the Port of Houston on July 21, 2026. Their destination is Project Matador, the energy and AI campus developed by Fermi America (NASDAQ: FRMI) near Amarillo, Texas. The delivery represents one of the largest single equipment moves in the entire project’s history.
Each SGT6-5000F turbine is rated at up to 260 megawatts in simple-cycle mode and can reach full speed in approximately five minutes, ramping up at as much as 40 MW per minute. The global fleet reliability for this model approaches 99%. From Houston, the machines will be transported to the Texas Panhandle site, where preparatory work is already underway. This marks phase two of the turbine deployment plan: phase one involves six SGT-800 turbines, currently in the balance-of-plant stage under contract with Primoris Services Corporation.
Fermi America has selected Spain-based TSK — one of Europe’s leading EPC firms in the energy sector — to handle preliminary civil works for the phase two turbines. Both contracts, with TSK and Primoris, were finalized within a single month, reflecting a strong pace of execution. The company has invested more than $1.4 billion in the project and has secured or leased 7,570 acres in the Texas Panhandle. The stated goal is to bring approximately 1.5 gigawatts online by 2027, subject to tenant agreements.
The broader context is Project Matador itself — a 5,769-acre campus developed on land under a 99-year ground lease with the Texas Tech University System. The project is designed to integrate combined-cycle natural gas generation, solar power, battery storage, grid connectivity, and — most ambitiously — one of the largest private nuclear complexes ever built in the United States. Fermi has already filed a federal application for a nuclear facility featuring four reactors at 1 GW each. Construction of the nuclear block is expected to begin in 2027, with the first operational phase targeted for 2032. In the meantime, the gas turbines will provide the capacity needed to power the high-density AI data centers on site. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has confirmed the applications are under review.
The campus is designed to deliver up to 11 GW of total power, host 18 million square meters of data center space, and serve major cloud and artificial intelligence operators without drawing on the public grid. The arrival of the SGT6-5000F turbines in Houston is the clearest sign yet that the project is moving forward at a steady clip. If the timeline holds, Project Matador could become the global benchmark for high-power private energy campuses built around nuclear — a model that others will look to replicate, in America and beyond.
