Fermi America, in partnership with the Texas Tech University System, reports that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hungary based MVM EGI, specialist in hybrid dry–wet cooling for power plants, to engineer and develop what it describes as a “next-generation” cooling system for Fermi’s planned 11 GW private energy grid campus – Project Matador – in the USA. Under the non-binding MOU, Fermi America and MVM EGI will partner on preliminary engineering, and feasibility studies for a series of indirect hybrid cooling towers that will support both Project Matador’s anticipated 6 GW of combined-cycle natural gas generation and four AP1000 nuclear units.
Leveraging an existing, proven hybrid cooling design, the partnership will adapt and optimise the system for West Texas conditions. Together, the companies will define cooling requirements, evaluate tower configurations, assess site and height constraints, and model the water-saving performance that hybrid cooling can deliver at scale. This early engineering work lays the foundation for the campus’s long-term cooling strategy, says Fermi America. The MOU outlines a sequence of milestones — including requirements definition, concept validation, and feasibility assessment — that will lead to a detailed design. Construction of the first cooling tower was scheduled to begin in January 2026, according to Fermi, with the full cooling system completed by 2034 to match the phased build-out of the gas and nuclear units.
These hybrid towers are expected to represent a major advancement in responsible energy development. By relying primarily on air cooling and circulating water through closed-loop systems, the design significantly reduces evaporative loss, conserving scarce water resources. The scope of collaboration also includes evaluation of recycled and reclaimed water, as well as underground reservoirs and solar-covered retention ponds — technologies that further limit evaporation and protect the Ogallala Aquifer.
“Fermi isn’t some out-of-town operation parachuting in. Our leadership is from West Texas — we grew up on this dirt, and we care about the land and its resources,” said Fermi America Co-Founder and CEO Toby Neugebauer. “As promised, we’re working with global innovators like MVM to ensure Project Matador complements the long-term water needs of the region, building something big, but doing it the right way.”
“MVM EGI has been on the cutting-edge of power plant cooling for more than half a century maintaining the heritage of our founders, Professor László Heller and Professor László Forgó, whom the high-capacity water-saving dry cooling systems are named after worldwide,” added MVM EGI CEO Péter Kárpáti.
Co-founded by former US Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and Co-founder and former Co-Managing Partner of Quantum Energy, Toby Neugebauer, Fermi America says it is combining “cutting-edge technology with a deep bench of proven world-class multi-disciplinary leaders to create the world’s largest, 11 GW, next-gen private grid.”
It cannot be accused of lacking ambition. The behind-the-meter Project Matador campus aims to integrate the USA’s biggest combined cycle natural gas project with one of the largest new nuclear power complexes in America (four Westinghouse AP1000 PWRs), alongside utility grid power, solar power, and battery energy storage, to “deliver hyperscaler artificial intelligence.”
