Midland, Texas-based E&P New Era Helium (NEH) said Jan. 21 it has finalized a 50-50 joint venture (JV) with Sharon AI to fund, develop and construct a 250-megawatt (MW), net-zero data center in the Permian Basin.

As part of the newly created Texas Critical Data Centers JV, which was expanded in scope in December, NEH would enter into a gas supply agreement at an agreed fixed cost for five years with three options of five years each, or a total of 20 years.

New Era Helium said it is currently negotiating with Texas Critical Data Centers for a long-term offtake gas supply agreement which is expected to be finalized within the next 30 days.

The details of the gas supply agreement will make the project strategically positioned to address the rising energy demands of AI and high performance computing (HPC) workloads.

The next major goal for this collaboration will be the announcement of the final site selection of the 250-MW net-zero energy data center, NEH said. Both New Era Helium and Sharon AI expect to announce a site selection by first-quarter 2025.

The company said its milestones include certain entitlements for the site, selection of power generation and CO2 capture technology, as well as ongoing conversations with offtake partners, which may include hyperscalers and other large energy users.

E. Will Gray II, CEO of New Era Helium, said the creation of Texas Critical Data Centers reflects the company’s goal of building “innovative energy infrastructure to support the growing needs of the AI/HPC-driven digital world.”

“By combining our expertise in helium and clean energy with Sharon AI’s cutting-edge computing technologies, we’re setting a new standard for sustainability and innovation,” Gray said.

Sharon AI CEO Wolf Schubert said the JV is progressing rapidly due to the high demand in the U.S. “for large-scale, low-cost, net-zero energy data centers, which are essential for powering AI/HPC workloads.”

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