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Physical data center space, high-density industrial zoning, immediate MW capacity, and fiber connectivity are just some of what’s being discussed at Yotta
Many of the conversations at Yotta 2026 in Las Vegas so far have highlighted the extreme urgency behind the need for power, and the fact that idle GPUs represent massive unearned revenue.
Securing fully interconnected and online sites is increasingly difficult as the electrical grid becomes more and more congested. Companies that hold sites with energized substations and access to immediate megawatt capacity are the rarest of commodities, especially those that have the soup-to-nuts energy contracts, fiber connectivity, sophisticated thermal management, and high-density industrial zoning to boot.
In speaking today to ONMINE CEO and co-founder Ahmed Elgamal from the Yotta event, it became clear that some companies are striving to cover all those bases. In ONMINE’s case, they capitalized on the scarcity trade by tapping the electrical power amassed during the crypto boom. “We saw where the future was going so we targeted and bought up undervalued 10 MW, 20 MW and 30 MW sites with dedicated electrical substations and direct, ready-made connections to the electrical grid. While others were focusing on massive hyperscale campuses of 100+ MW, we were buying up small-to-medium-scale sites of 10 to 30 MWs,” explains Elgamal. Through these purchases, he contends the company is now able to offer the “powered shells” that bypass the grid queue, deploying power and getting GPUs up and running years faster than companies trying to build new sites from scratch. “We realize you’re losing revenue if your GPUs are sitting without space, so we find homes for the GPUs, offering immediate power,” says Elgamal.
In order to add to its pipeline, Elgamal says the company is “on track to finalize 36 MW by the end of 2026 and working to secure a massive 500 MW within the next two years to scale their high-performance computing infrastructure.”
Two recent projects include:
The Adrian Project: a 10 MW facility that is fully energized and operational, using a closed-loop hydro cooling system and reliable backup generators engineered specifically to sustain high-performance AI and GPU workloads at scale.
The Big Springs Project: a 10 MW project also fully energized and operational, also using hydro-cooled facility architecture to support a density of roughly 1,800 next-gen compute servers.
By building “power-first” compute infrastructure, and activating sites fueled by closed-loop cooling systems, he says it’s possible to ensure operating efficiency without traditional grid delays.
Reflecting on the interdependencies of the digital ecosystem, he notes that power, compute, connectivity, and capital are entirely linked and critical to the BYOP model —something he recently stressed by saying, “none of it moves very far alone.”
Onmine is currently very active in the Texas regulatory landscape, coordinating with power grids, such as ERCOT, to set up data centers – some of which are acting as virtual power plants that temporarily reduce their electricity load during peak grid stress to support state power reliability.
To power high-performance computing and AI clusters without adding to grid strain, Onmine relies on a blend of wind, solar, hydro and nuclear, as well as a curtailment concept called “grid optimization and balancing” during which power load can be instantly shed or throttled when instructed by the grid. By dropping their 10 MW or 46 MW consumption down to near zero within seconds, they immediately free up massive amounts of electricity for residential homes and critical infrastructure, preventing localized blackouts.
For the next couple years, Elgamal says Onmine’s focus will continue to be building “power-first” compute infrastructure, including activating sites fueled by closed-loop cooling systems. Recent projects in that vein include. According to Elgamal, data centers are active infrastructure assets that will work alongside grid operators to support and stabilize the broader state energy infrastructure.
