La central de Gibbons Creek, retirada en 2019, sobre cuyo sitio se construirá Terafab. Imagen recortada; la adaptación se publica bajo la misma licencia. 图片来源： Pmelton87 (Wikimedia Commons), CC BY-SA 3.0.
关键数据
- Transformer exports (NL, 2024)
- US$2,173M
- National rank
- 1st in Mexico
- Destination
- 95% to the United States
- Terafab, first phase
- US$16,800M
On August 6, 2026, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and SpaceX confirmed Terafab: US$16.8 billion in its first phase, more than 100 million square feet and 3,000 permanent jobs in Grimes County.
It is worth being precise about what it is, because several outlets have called it a data center. Terafab is a semiconductor manufacturing plant, developed by SpaceX together with Tesla and Intel, whose chips will supply those same companies. It will rise on the site of a power station retired in 2019, reusing its substations, rights of way and reservoir.
The figures have moved, and that is worth saying
March brought talk of US$25 billion. May filings mentioned US$55 billion in initial investment and up to US$119 billion across all phases. Permanent jobs appear as 1,800, 3,000 or 4,234 depending on the document. The figure officially confirmed on August 6 is US$16.8 billion for the first phase.
At this scale, numbers get adjusted several times between announcement and groundbreaking. Worth keeping in mind when reading any coverage.
The scale of what Texas is building
The figure that best captures the moment is not one project's price tag, but the queue to connect to the grid. On August 3, 2026 the Governor's office reported roughly 474 gigawatts of pending interconnection requests, "more than five times Texas's record peak demand", with close to 90% coming from data centers. That same day it ordered a comprehensive audit to manage that growth in an orderly way.
It is, very likely, the largest concentration of new electricity demand on the continent.
Texas also holds an uncommon structural advantage: its market allows a project to build its own generation. SpaceX will use it, with on-site natural gas plants and grid-scale battery storage, and stated it will not draw from ERCOT in a way that raises rates for other users. In other words, it adds capacity rather than competing for the existing supply.
All of that is built with equipment, and that is where Nuevo León comes in
Raising generation, substations, lines and buildings consumes enormous volumes of electrical equipment: transformers, switchgear, power systems and cooling.
Nuevo León is Mexico's leading exporter of power transformers, static converters and inductors, with US$2,173 million in 2024 out of a national total of US$7,429 million. 95% of Mexico's exports in this category go to the United States.
And this is not just an aggregate figure. Manufacturing in Apodaca and Monterrey:
- Prolec GE, whose remaining 50% was acquired by GE Vernova for US$5,275 million on February 2, 2026, explicitly citing data center growth and electrification as the demand driver.
- Vertiv, with a Monterrey plant since 2022, over 430,000 square feet and more than 1,500 jobs, focused on thermal management, power systems and integrated racks.
- Schneider Electric, whose Monterrey Plant 4 in Apodaca opened in June 2024 with a US$29.4 million investment.
- Danfoss, expanding in Apodaca for compressors and heat exchangers.
When GE Vernova paid more than five billion dollars for full control of Prolec, it was buying installed capacity located in Apodaca. That is the clearest measure of how the market values this chain.
The honest size of the opportunity
Two clarifications, because precise data holds up better than enthusiasm.
There is no public breakdown of what share of Nuevo León's exports goes specifically to data centers. Transformers also serve power grids, utilities and industry at large. What does hold is that Nuevo León manufactures and exports the equipment whose demand is growing with this expansion.
And Nuevo León is not a hyperscale market today. It has roughly 21 megawatts of installed data center capacity, against 186 in Querétaro, which concentrates between 72% and 79% of the national total. In this cycle its role is that of a manufacturing partner, and it is a role with growing demand and first-tier customers.
If your company is in this chain
Demand for electrical and cooling equipment does not hinge on any single project being built, but on a long-term electrification cycle in the most dynamic neighboring market on the continent.
- Browse the map of industrial parks in Nuevo León, with availability by municipality.
- Review options for industrial buildings, land and build-to-suit.
- If power consumption is your critical variable, start with the state's energy overview.
Sources: Office of the Governor of Texas, Terafab announcement and data center audit order · DataMéxico, Ministry of Economy · GE Vernova.
