Blue Energy and GE Vernova Hitachi Advance 2.5GW Gas-Plus-Nuclear Plant in Texas to Power Crusoe Data Center

US nuclear energy company Blue Energy and GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) have signed an agreement to advance work on a 2.5GW gas-plus-nuclear power plant in Victoria, Texas, designed to supply electricity to a nearby data center campus developed by Crusoe. The hybrid facility will pair GE Vernova's 7HA.02 gas turbines with GVH's BWRX-300 small modular reactors (SMRs), marking a significant step toward delivering reliable baseload power to the rapidly expanding AI infrastructure sector.

The agreement covers advanced engineering design, licensing, and safety analysis for the combined plant, with a final investment decision expected in 2027. Blue Energy said it intends to supply approximately 1GW of power to the undisclosed data center by 2030 through two gas turbines, followed by up to 1.5GW from as many as five BWRX-300 SMRs beginning in 2032. The timeline reflects the urgency of "speed-to-power" challenges facing data center developers amid surging electricity demand from AI workloads.

The BWRX-300 is a 300MW boiling water reactor that forms the backbone of Blue Energy's deployment strategy. Unlike most advanced nuclear firms, Blue Energy does not manufacture reactors. Instead, the company designs modular nuclear power plants that are fabricated off-site at shipyards and transported to project locations, a vertically integrated model the company calls the "Blue Way." The first SMR unit under this approach is currently under construction at Ontario Power Generation's Darlington site in Canada, with completion targeted by the end of the decade.

"This agreement with GE Vernova Hitachi keeps Blue Energy confidently moving forward to build our nuclear energy production line that will unlock the promise of abundant nuclear energy," said Jake Jurewicz, Blue Energy CEO and co-founder. "We are shifting from the old way of building large reactor nuclear power to instead do it the 'Blue Way' that slashes costs and time to power and finally makes nuclear a financeable, repeatable product."

Eric Gray, CEO of GE Vernova's Power segment, said the deal pairs the company's HA-class gas turbine technology with GVH's SMR technology. "Meeting the surging demand for electricity requires proven, scalable technologies and the ability to bring them together as integrated solutions," he said. "Together, we are establishing a blueprint for deploying reliable baseload power at the scale and speed customers need."

The power plant is expected to supply up to 1.5GW to a data center being developed by Crusoe, which signed a power agreement with Blue Energy in October. The campus is planned for a 1,600-acre site at the Port of Victoria, with initial power delivery originally targeted as early as 2028. Blue Energy did not disclose further details on the data center development timeline.

The agreement marked Crusoe's first partnership with a nuclear power company. Since then, Crusoe has also partnered with Aalo Atomics on what could be the first SMR-powered data center at the Idaho National Laboratory in 2027, as part of a proof-of-concept project. The broader industry trend toward colocating generation assets with data centers highlights the growing convergence of energy and digital infrastructure, as hyperscale developers seek reliable, scalable power solutions to meet the demands of AI-era computing.