Amazon has acquired an off-grid gas power plant under construction in Texas for a data centre that could become one of the United States’ largest greenhouse-gas sources. Its significance lies not only in its scale but in its use of less efficient simple-cycle gas turbines, a technology increasingly chosen for AI data centres because it can be installed and switched on quickly.

The Texas site is permitted to emit up to 33 million tonnes of greenhouse gases annually; even at half that level, it would exceed the pollution of 78 average gas plants, according to the EPA. Simple-cycle turbines waste heat that combined-cycle plants can reuse, but developers favour them amid equipment backlogs and because AI training can require sudden, intense power surges. Similar turbine-based projects are planned or operating for Meta, Microsoft, Google and xAI, while Amazon says its project will include solar and batteries and supports its 2040 net-zero goal.