The Daily Dig
A 25MW AI data center is in development in McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee. The Hixson Data Center is a two-level, 96,064 square foot facility purpose-built for high-density GPU workloads, with rack power densities of 132 kVA per rack based on the Nvidia GB200 NVL72 platform. Managing principal Ray Hixson and director of development Alex Hixson are leading the project.
The facility is designed to be grid-islanded, with no utility intertie assumed in the current concept. Bloom Energy has an agreement in place to supply 30MW of guaranteed capacity through on-site Solid Oxide Fuel Cell power, with a nameplate of 33.15MW.
Eight Caterpillar diesel generators at 4.4MW continuous each, supplied by Stowers Cat, provide backup generation, and a 25MW battery energy storage system from FlexGen rounds out the power stack.
Cooling runs through direct-to-chip liquid cooling via coolant distribution units using a 25% propylene glycol solution, supplemented by chilled-water air handling units, hot aisle containment, and economizer heat exchangers. The PUE design target is 1.15.
Fluor Corporation has completed a FEED-LITE study and Class 5 estimate. The project is currently in the financing phase, seeking a single tenant for the full 25MW. The Phase I Environmental Site Assessment is complete through S&ME, and the land is already owned by the developer. The target tenant-ready date is Q1 2028.
Snapshot:
Project: Hixson Data Center
Developer: Ray Hixson (Managing Principal), Alex Hixson (Director of Development)
Location: McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee
Sector: AI / High-Density Data Center
Building Size: ~96,064 SF (two-level)
IT Capacity: 25MW (single tenant)
Rack Density: 132 kVA per rack (Nvidia GB200 NVL72 basis)
PUE Target: 1.15
Power Architecture: Grid-islanded / no utility intertie assumed in current concept
Primary Power: Bloom Energy SOFC, 30MW guaranteed / 33.15MW nameplate
Backup Generation: 8 x 4.4MW continuous Caterpillar diesel generators (Stowers Cat)
Battery Storage: 25MW BESS (FlexGen)
Natural Gas Supply: MTNG / Middle Tennessee Natural Gas
Cooling: Direct-to-chip via CDUs (25% propylene glycol) + chilled-water AHUs + hot aisle containment + economizer heat exchangers
Connectivity: Ben Lomand (regional fiber); POPs in Nashville, Atlanta (x2), Ashburn, VA
FEED-LITE Study & Class 5 Estimate: Fluor Corporation
Environmental & Geotechnical: S&ME
Surveyor: Brian E Morgan
Status: Financing underway, single tenant search active
Tenant-Ready Target: Q1 2028
TheJobWalk Thoughts
The grid-islanded power strategy is the defining design decision on this project. The developer explicitly cites growing utility planning cycles driven by regional power demand as the reason for avoiding grid interconnection. For a project of this type, removing that dependency is a straightforward risk reduction move that any prospective tenant will understand immediately.
This project is still chasing financing and a tenant at the same time. That is not unusual at this stage, but it means the gap between credible pre-development work and a construction start could be significant. A FEED-LITE and Class 5 estimate from Fluor shows the developer has spent real money on early engineering. It does not mean the project breaks ground soon.
Subs and suppliers tracking this one should be building relationships and watching for financing milestones, not expecting bid packages anytime soon.
