• Construction starts in Q3 2026, but the companies have not disclosed first-phase capacity or a target operating date
• Lancium owns the site and will manage its energy infrastructure, while Crusoe will design, build and operate the data centre
The fact
Crusoe and Lancium plan to build a data-centre campus in Childress, Texas, with up to 1GW of grid-connected capacity at full scale. Lancium owns the 270-acre site, which is intended to support an unnamed hyperscale technology company. Construction is expected to start in the third quarter of 2026, but the companies have not disclosed the first-phase capacity or target operating date.
Lancium will develop and manage the site's energy infrastructure, while Crusoe will design, build and operate the data centre. The campus is planned with behind-the-meter solar, energy storage and closed-loop, non-evaporative liquid cooling. The companies use the same arrangement at Abilene, where Crusoe says the first two buildings were energised within a year. Six more buildings are under construction and are expected to bring the campus to 1.2GW by the end of 2026.
The assessment
The Childress project splits delivery between Lancium's site and energy work and Crusoe's data-centre build. The two workstreams can move in parallel during construction, but must synchronise before the first data halls are commissioned. If either side falls behind, the other's completed work sits idle.
For BTW readers, the partnership model is already proven at Abilene, where the first two buildings were energised within a year and eight more are on track to bring that campus to 1.2GW by end of 2026. Childress follows the same playbook: Lancium handles power, Crusoe builds compute. The 1GW figure describes full build-out, not the first phase, and neither company has disclosed initial capacity or operating date. Near-term delivery depends on how the first power allocation matches Crusoe's first data halls.
What to watch
Construction is expected to start in the third quarter of 2026. The first-phase capacity, power allocation and target energisation date will show how the initial build is sequenced. The first data halls cannot enter service until both Lancium's energy infrastructure and Crusoe's buildings are ready.