IREN’s 2GW Sweetwater Hub Gets Conditional ERCOT Base Load Status
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IREN said its 2-gigawatt Sweetwater data center hub in Texas received conditional base load classification under ERCOT’s Batch Zero process, a step in its grid review that remains subject to further approvals.
The designation covers the 1,400-megawatt Sweetwater 1 and 600-megawatt Sweetwater 2 projects, the company said in a September 8 statement. Together, they form part of IREN’s announced global data center development portfolio of more than 5GW.
Base load treatment places projects in a category considered sufficiently studied for inclusion in the grid operator’s planning baseline, rather than requiring additional study through Batch Zero. IREN stressed that the classifications remain conditional and subject to ongoing approval processes.
IREN said its high-voltage substation at Sweetwater 1 was energized earlier this year. Construction of 300MW of gross data center capacity continues, with delivery targeted for the fourth quarter of 2027. That construction target covers a portion of the hub’s overall 2GW capacity.
The company also said additional large projects in its development pipeline were included in Batch Zero, without identifying their locations, capacities or classifications. It plans to add them to its announced portfolio after signing the relevant grid connection agreements.
Texas regulators approved Batch Zero on June 18 as the state’s grid operator sought to manage a surge in requests from large electricity users. The framework groups qualifying projects of at least 75MW into a single assessment, allowing ERCOT to evaluate their combined impact on reliability and identify required transmission upgrades. It replaces a project-by-project approach that ERCOT said had become lengthy and repetitive.
The rollout has faced delays amid additional scrutiny. Texas Governor Greg Abbott directed regulators on August 3 to verify and audit data centers advancing through the interconnection process, according to IREN’s annual filing. ERCOT subsequently delayed issuing conditional classifications beyond August 31, saying it needed more time for data validation and due diligence.
The remaining approvals matter for IREN’s construction schedule. In its annual filing, the company warned that changes to ERCOT procedures could delay energization or alter permitted power levels at its Texas projects. It also said customer uptime requirements for AI cloud services could limit its ability to reduce electricity consumption when prices rise.
