Published 2026-11-12 · Cyclone Bolt

SpaceX plans to build a gas-fired power plant and a "super-compute facility" on a 444-acre tract just outside Brownsville, Texas, with an estimated $24 billion of capital investment in the project's initial phases. The plan surfaced through a public hearing notice posted by the city of Starbase, and The Texas Tribune reported it on November 10, 2026. 24/7 Wall St. reported that the one-page city notice is dated November 6, 2026, and that SpaceX is listed on it as both the applicant and the property owner. That report said SpaceX made no comment.

What the Starbase notice describes

According to 24/7 Wall St., the notice says SpaceX aims to build, own and operate both the power plant and the computing facility on the 444-acre tract, which sits between Boca Chica Boulevard and the Port of Brownsville inside the Cameron County Enterprise Zone. The Starbase City Commission is scheduled to consider a tax exemption agreement under Chapter 312 of the Texas Tax Code at its meeting on December 9, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. CRE Daily reported that commissioners will take up both a tax abatement and a development agreement at that meeting, and that the $24 billion figure covers only the first phase. The Tribune described the $24 billion as covering initial phases that could include future expansions.

The notice does not state the plant's generating capacity or the size and length of the tax exemption, according to 24/7 Wall St. That outlet cited a separate pending state air filing for a SpaceX "Boca Chica Facility," reported by The 956 Report, that covers 35 temporary gas turbines totaling about 748 megawatts, to be replaced later by eight permanent turbines totaling about 708 megawatts. Those capacity figures come from the air filing as reported, not from the city notice.

How the land changed hands

The tract has a history. The Tribune reported that Brownsville de-annexed the 444.45 acres earlier this year at SpaceX's request, and that the company offered $220 million for city water and wastewater projects in exchange. The city of Starbase, which CRE Daily notes became its own city in 2025, later annexed the land into its limits. FOX 26 Houston reported on November 11, 2026 that Brownsville put a 90-day data center moratorium in place on November 4. The Tribune reported that the project circumvents that moratorium because the land is no longer inside the city. Brownsville told the Tribune that the de-annexation decision was based on the information and circumstances presented at the time and that the $220 million will fund water infrastructure.

The project has drawn both opposition and support. The Tribune reported that the South Texas Environmental Justice Network announced a protest, citing air pollution, water use and residents' energy bills, while other residents welcomed the project as a source of jobs.

Why a private power plant matters in Texas right now

The power plan is the detail that will interest contractors. The Tribune reported that Gov. Greg Abbott directed grid operators in August to pause data center grid connection requests until the data centers could be audited, and that data centers which supply their own electricity are not bound by that pause. A gas-fired plant on the site could power the computing facility without a grid connection. CRE Daily made the same point, noting that self-supplied power skips the grid interconnection queue that slows most developers.

State policy is still moving. The Tribune reported that Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa has said she would halt data center approvals until state lawmakers pass new laws, CRE Daily noted that she campaigned partly on taming new data center construction, and FOX 26 reported that state Sen. Joan Huffman has introduced legislation to repeal sales tax exemptions for data centers. How those proposals affect a project with its own generation is not yet known. The December 9 hearing in Starbase is the first firm date on the calendar.

What a plant-plus-data-center build means for bolting supply

A project that pairs hundreds of megawatts of gas turbines with a large computing facility consumes threaded products across two very different scopes. On the generation side, turbine and generator packages typically sit on engineered foundations with embedded anchor bolts, and the balance of plant runs on flanged piping: gas supply lines, cooling water, lube oil and exhaust systems. Flanged connections in that service are commonly specified with alloy steel stud bolts and heavy hex nuts to ASTM A193 Grade B7 and ASTM A194 Grade 2H, often with a coating called out for corrosion protection in a coastal setting. Temporary turbine units that are later replaced by permanent ones add a second round of foundation and piping bolting when the permanent units arrive.

On the data center side, the demand looks like any large Texas data hall: structural bolts for steel framing and equipment platforms, anchors for generators, switchgear, transformers and chillers, and plain and coated hardware for cable tray, piping supports and rooftop equipment. Buyers on these projects typically ask for material test reports, lot traceability and clear marking, and they set the grades, finishes and dimensions on the purchase order based on what the project's engineer has specified. Requirements come from the customer's engineer. Projects of this size also tend to generate a long tail of small orders, the "shorts" at the end of each phase, when a crew finds it is a few dozen studs short of finishing a flange run. Our pages on power generation and stud bolts describe the product families involved.

Where Cyclone fits

Cyclone Bolt is a Houston, Texas manufacturer of fasteners, threaded products and custom machined components, established in 2016. The company manufactures stud bolts, stainless steel studs, heavy hex nuts, hex bolts and cap screws, double-end and tap-end studs, washers and gaskets, and custom machined components, and holds AS9100D, AS9120B, ISO 9001:2015, API Spec Q1, API 20E and API 20F certifications, which are described on the quality page. Cyclone is supplying several large data center builds in Texas and welcomes more, from full-build take-offs to the shorts at the end of a project. Cyclone is not involved in the Starbase project; this article covers the public record.

If you are pricing bolting for a data center or power project in Texas, request a quote and send the specification with the take-off.

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