Energy Vault Inc. has started construction on its Snyder AI campus in west Texas where it will deploy Crusoe Spark modular data centers under a commercial agreement with Crusoe Cloud. The initial phase targets 8 megawatts of powered shell capacity for AI and high-performance computing workloads, with a second phase that could expand to 25 megawatts. Commercial operations are planned for the first quarter of 2027.
Construction work now includes fiber installation, site preparation, electrical infrastructure buildout, and other enabling systems needed to receive the modular data center units. The project reflects a shift in AI infrastructure development where deployment speed and access to powered, connected land compete with computing hardware as the main determinants of speed-to-market.
Modular design cuts deployment timelines
The Crusoe Spark platform uses prefabricated data center modules that can be installed and commissioned in weeks rather than the years typical of conventional data center construction. Energy Vault is purchasing 10 of these units, which Crusoe will lease back as powered shell infrastructure to host Crusoe Cloud computing resources for AI model training, fine-tuning, and inference workloads.
The Snyder campus is designed as an integrated site combining powered land, electrical systems, N+1 redundancy, and battery energy storage. By bundling these elements into a single development model, the partners aim to remove bottlenecks that slow traditional data center projects - land acquisition, power provisioning, and long build cycles.
Speed and execution in a constrained market
"This announcement is about speed and execution," said Marco Terruzzin, Chief Commercial and Development Officer of Energy Vault. "Earlier this year, we announced our commercial agreement with Crusoe. Today, we are building it. Our initial 8MW deployment is targeted for commercial operation in Q1 2027. Energy Vault is delivering AI infrastructure by combining land, power, redundancy, controls, and modular infrastructure to help AI compute customers move from concept to capacity faster."
Terruzzin said the company's early engagement with the City of Snyder focused on responsible site development and long-term infrastructure investments intended to generate recurring revenue alongside local benefits. The project marks a further step in Energy Vault's strategy to supply energy infrastructure for next-generation computing, a move beyond its core utility-scale storage technologies.
Industry views on modular AI capacity
"Our Crusoe Spark modular data center program is a capacity accelerant and a strategic differentiator for Crusoe and our partners," said Cully Cavness, president, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Crusoe. He said combining the modular platform with Crusoe Cloud capacity creates a repeatable model for bringing AI computing online quickly at powered sites, directly addressing the land, power, and redundancy challenges that stall hyperscale and colo projects.
The approach gains urgency as AI training and inference demand outpaces the ability of legacy construction processes to deliver new capacity. For real estate and construction professionals, the development illustrates how industrial property requirements are evolving - land deals increasingly include power infrastructure, battery storage, and turnkey shell specifications rather than empty plots or basic warehouses. The shift aligns with the growing overlap between power development and built-environment delivery explored in AI for Real Estate & Construction.
Why this matters for real estate and construction professionals
Modular AI campus projects like Snyder AI compress the construction and commissioning phase to weeks, reshaping site selection criteria. Graded land with fiber and switchgear capacity now commands premium value, and development timelines are dictated by utility interconnection and offsite fabrication schedules rather than on-site stick-built construction. General contractors and developers active in data center markets will increasingly see RFPs that require vertical integration of energy storage, backup power, and modular shell delivery within a single contract. Mastery of these bundled scopes can become a differentiator as AI infrastructure spending accelerates.
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