Jacobs Wins Contract for Second Hut 8 AI Data Center in Texas
Jacobs has been awarded a sole-source engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) contract by Hut 8 to support the development of a second large-scale artificial intelligence data center campus in the United States. The new project, known as Beacon Point, will be located in Nueces County, Texas, and represents another major step in Hut 8’s rapidly expanding AI and high-performance computing infrastructure strategy.
The contract marks a continuation of the partnership between Jacobs and Hut 8 following their previous collaboration on the River Bend AI data center campus in Louisiana. Company officials said the repeat award demonstrates Hut 8’s confidence in Jacobs’ ability to manage highly complex infrastructure projects while maintaining speed, reliability, and execution certainty.
Beacon Point is being developed under Hut 8’s “power-first” greenfield development model, a strategy designed to prioritize access to large-scale energy infrastructure before constructing AI computing facilities. The company believes this approach provides a significant competitive advantage as global demand for artificial intelligence computing capacity and high-performance data processing continues to accelerate.
The Texas campus is planned as a multi-phase project capable of supporting up to one gigawatt of total power capacity once fully completed. This scale positions Beacon Point among the emerging generation of hyperscale AI infrastructure developments being built to support advanced machine learning, generative AI, cloud computing, and high-performance computing workloads.
As artificial intelligence applications continue expanding across industries, demand for large-scale data centers with substantial energy availability has increased dramatically. Technology companies, cloud providers, and AI developers are actively seeking facilities capable of supporting increasingly power-intensive computing operations, creating strong demand for next-generation infrastructure projects like Beacon Point.
Under the EPCM contract, Jacobs will oversee key phases of project execution, including engineering design, procurement coordination, and construction management. The company stated that it will leverage proven design concepts and operational lessons from the River Bend campus to accelerate delivery and improve efficiency at the Texas site.
A major component of Jacobs’ involvement will include deployment of its newly introduced digital twin technology for data center infrastructure. Digital twin systems create advanced virtual models of facilities and operational systems, enabling teams to simulate performance, identify potential risks, and optimize infrastructure before physical operations begin.
According to Jacobs, the use of digital twin technology at Beacon Point will help simulate critical infrastructure assets throughout the development process. This approach is expected to reduce commissioning risks, improve operational readiness, and shorten the timeline required to bring AI computing capacity online.
The company believes these capabilities are becoming increasingly important as AI infrastructure projects grow larger and more technically demanding. Accelerating deployment timelines is particularly valuable in the current market environment, where AI-related computing demand continues growing at an unprecedented pace.
Bob Pragada, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Jacobs, said the new contract award reflects Hut 8’s continued trust in the company’s ability to deliver large-scale AI infrastructure projects safely, efficiently, and with a high level of certainty.
Pragada explained that combining Jacobs’ EPCM expertise with advanced digital twin capabilities enables the company to establish new benchmarks for AI infrastructure deployment, operational optimization, and resiliency. He emphasized that as demand for AI computing environments increases, infrastructure providers must focus not only on construction speed but also on long-term operational reliability and scalability.
Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut 8, described Beacon Point as the second campus successfully commercialized under the company’s power-first development strategy. He noted that it is also the second time Hut 8 has selected Jacobs to serve as EPCM lead for a major AI data center project.
Genoot stated that executing infrastructure projects at this scale requires experienced partners capable of meeting rigorous technical and operational standards. According to him, Hut 8 selected Jacobs again because of the company’s demonstrated ability to manage risk, maintain execution certainty, and support highly complex project delivery requirements.
The Beacon Point campus will be delivered in phases, with Jacobs already advancing engineering design, integrated procurement activities, and construction planning. Initial energization and commissioning activities are currently targeted for 2027, although the overall campus buildout may continue beyond that date as additional phases are developed.
Hut 8 also confirmed that it has secured an interconnection agreement covering the campus’s full utility capacity, providing a long-term pathway for future expansion as AI and high-performance computing requirements continue increasing. The company indicated that the infrastructure design allows for scalable growth depending on future customer demand and market conditions.
The project highlights the growing importance of energy access within the AI infrastructure sector. Data centers supporting AI training and inference workloads consume significantly more power than traditional computing facilities due to the intense processing demands of advanced graphics processing units and large-scale machine learning systems.
As a result, developers are increasingly prioritizing regions with strong utility infrastructure, grid capacity, and access to long-term power agreements. Texas has emerged as one of the leading markets for large-scale data center investment due to its substantial energy resources, business-friendly environment, and expanding digital infrastructure ecosystem.
Beyond its partnership with Hut 8, Jacobs continues to strengthen its role within the global technology and advanced infrastructure sectors. The company works with many of the world’s largest organizations involved in data centers, semiconductor manufacturing, and advanced computing systems.
Jacobs has participated in the delivery of high-performance computing environments for major technology organizations including NVIDIA, Start Campus, and PsiQuantum. These projects reflect the company’s growing specialization in technically sophisticated infrastructure supporting AI, cloud computing, semiconductors, and quantum technologies.
The company also recently received industry recognition for its work on semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure. Engineering News-Record named Intel’s Fab 52 facility, designed and engineered by Jacobs, as its “Project of the Year.” The award is considered one of the highest honors within the architecture, engineering, and construction industry and highlights the increasing complexity and importance of advanced technology infrastructure projects.
The Beacon Point project further demonstrates how AI is reshaping the global infrastructure landscape. As organizations race to expand AI capabilities, the need for high-capacity, energy-intensive computing campuses is driving billions of dollars in investment across data centers, utilities, semiconductors, and digital infrastructure.
Industry analysts expect demand for AI-ready infrastructure to continue growing rapidly over the coming years as enterprises, governments, and technology providers scale generative AI systems, machine learning applications, and high-performance computing platforms.
For Jacobs and Hut 8, the Beacon Point development represents both a continuation of an existing partnership and a reflection of broader trends transforming the digital infrastructure market. By combining scalable energy access, advanced engineering, digital twin technology, and phased deployment strategies, the project is intended to support the next generation of AI computing capacity in the United States.
As construction progresses toward the planned 2027 energization timeline, Beacon Point is expected to become one of the significant AI infrastructure developments within Texas and a key component of Hut 8’s expanding high-performance computing platform.
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