Amazon building massive gas power plant to fuel its AI data center

Amazon is investing in a massive natural-gas power plant in Texas to fuel its growing AI data-centre operations. But the project could come with a huge environmental cost, with the plant permitted to emit up to 33 million tons of CO2.Amazon’s AI data-centre expansion is raising fresh concerns over emissions and water use. (Representational image created using AI)The rapid growth of AI is forcing tech companies to solve a problem that has little to do with software - where to get enough electricity to run the enormous data centres behind AI services. Amazon is tackling that challenge with a major power project in West Texas. The company is developing a natural-gas plant called GW Ranch alongside a large data centre in Pecos County. But the project has drawn attention because of the amount of pollution it could potentially produce.GW Ranch is said to have 35 natural-gas turbines with a combined capacity of about 7.65 gigawatts. Amazon has purchased the property and plans to buy electricity generated by the facility. Much of that power is expected to go directly toward running Amazon's data centre rather than being supplied to homes and businesses through the wider electricity grid.Plant could be permitted to emit 33 million tons of CO2The project's potential emissions are what have raised the biggest concerns. According to Cleanview, a tracker that monitors data centres and the energy infrastructure built to support them, GW Ranch has received a Texas permit allowing it to emit up to 33 million tons of carbon dioxide. That is an extraordinary figure. The permitted amount is higher than the emissions limit for the largest coal-fired power plant in the US. The 33-million-ton figure is a maximum permitted level, however, and does not necessarily mean the plant will release that much CO2. Actual emissions would depend on how heavily the facility operates. Even so, the size of the allowance illustrates the environmental impact that could come with supplying power to a single AI-focused data centre.Amazon's project is also part of a bigger change taking place across the technology industry. AI systems need enormous amounts of computing power, and the servers handling those workloads consume significant electricity. As companies race to build more AI infrastructure, securing a dependable supply of power has become an increasingly important part of their expansion plans. Instead of relying completely on existing grids, some companies are looking at dedicated generation facilities. Google and Meta have also explored gas and other energy sources to meet the growing needs of their data centres. For Amazon, the issue creates an uncomfortable contrast with its climate ambitions. Founder Jeff Bezos previously committed the company to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. However, Amazon's emissions have increased in recent years as the company has expanded its operations and invested heavily in data centres and AI.Amazon says its climate commitment remains unchanged despite the changing energy scenario. The company's spokesperson Margaret Callahan told The New York Times, “The world looks different now than when we co-founded the climate pledge,” while adding that “our commitment hasn’t changed.”Amazon's data centres also using billions of gallons of water The environmental impact of Amazon's AI infrastructure isn't limited to carbon emissions. The company said its data-centre operations around the world withdrew approximately 2.5 billion gallons of water in 2025. To put that into perspective, that amount would be enough to provide 2 litres of water every day to around 13 million people for an entire year. Amazon said direct water use at data centres it owns and operates declined 2 per cent from 2024, even as the company expanded its data-centre network. The company also reported using about 0.12 litres of water for every kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed by its data centres in 2025, which it says is more efficient than the industry average. Some of its facilities also use treated wastewater instead of drinking water.Data centres need water mainly to prevent their powerful computer systems from overheating. Amazon says its facilities can rely on outside air for cooling around 90 per cent of the time, turning to water-based evaporative cooling during the hottest periods.The company has also pledged that by the end of this decade, it will return more water to communities than its direct operations consume.What exactly is a data centre?A data centre is essentially a giant facility packed with computers, servers and storage systems that keep digital services running. Every time someone streams a video, makes a UPI payment, stores a photo in the cloud or uses an AI chatbot, data has to be processed and stored somewhere. As AI tools become more powerful and widely used, the infrastructure required to run them is growing rapidly. Amazon's new Texas project shows the scale of that expansion and the environmental cost that can come with it.- EndsPublished By: Ankita GargPublished On: Aug 10, 2026 12:40 IST