Terafab to Rely on On-Site Natural Gas Power Plants Instead of Solar

How the story unfolded

1. Friday, August 7, 2026 3 sources
   • 📰 interestingengineering.com SpaceX to build on-site natural gas plant for $55b Texas semiconductor site Driven by Musk’s vision of a ... AI data centers, the Terafab project aims to fill a massive computing shortfall that current global chip production cannot support. It will mass-produce custom artificial intelligence chips engineered to power ...
   • 📰 mezha.net SpaceX Plans Gas Power Plants to Supply Its Terafab Chip Factory in Texas | Ukraine news - #Mezha ... SpaceX proposes Terafab, a $55–119 billion vertically integrated semiconductor plant in Grimes County, Texas, to supply chips for xAI, Tesla, satellites and a planned space data center.
   • 📰 techcrunch.com SpaceX's Terafab will rely on natural gas power plants, not Tesla solar panels | TechCrunch The initial phase of the fab unit is expected to cost $16.8 billion, though SpaceX had previously estimated it would cost $55 billion. The fab is intended to build chips for data centers that will be run by SpaceX and its xAI subsidiary.
2. Monday, August 10, 2026 2 sources
   • 📰 electrek.co Musk's Terafab chip plant will run on gas, not Tesla solar | Electrek SpaceX confirmed it will power Terafab, its $16.8 billion chip megafactory in Texas, with its own natural gas power plants and “very large battery arrays.” Tesla solar isn’t in the plan.
   • 📰 clubic.com SpaceX : la méga usine « Terafab » tournera au gaz naturel, exit le solaire de Tesla Le gaz naturel n’a pourtant rien d’anodin. À Memphis, les turbines de xAI ont fonctionné pendant des mois sans les permis nécessaires, avant de faire l’objet d’une plainte pour violation du Clean Air Act, la loi fédérale sur la qualité de l’air.
3. Tuesday, August 11, 2026 2 sources
   • 📰 techtimes.com Terafab Confirmed: SpaceX Chooses Musk's Gas Firm Over Tesla's Solar Panels The other will produce the D3 chip, a radiation-hardened design for SpaceX's satellite constellations and orbital data centers. Terafab's planned chip architectures organize production around one chip per fab — a design that minimizes scheduling ...
   • 📰 datacenterdynamics.com SpaceX to power TeraFab chip factory in Texas via on-site generation and battery storage - DCD SpaceX looks set to power its TeraFab semiconductor campus in Texas via on-site generation and battery storage, rather than seek a connection to the grid.
4. Wednesday, August 12, 2026 2 sources
   • 📰 datacenterknowledge.com SpaceX Plans to Power $16.8B Terafab Without the Grid SpaceX plans to power its massive Terafab semiconductor and advanced-computing campus in Grimes County, Texas, with onsite generation and battery storage rather than electricity from the grid, according to a fully executed tax-abatement agreement ...
   • 𝕏 @JoeTegtmeyer Post
5. Tuesday, August 18, 2026 1 source
   • 📰 facilitiesdive.com Power ‘quality’ is why SpaceX’s Terafab is going with on-site gas, analysts say | Facilities Dive Sister company SpaceX is proposing the world's largest facility to be operational in 2027. Terafab will use on-site natural gas turbines and back-up batteries for power, the company says.
6. Wednesday, August 19, 2026 1 source
   • 📰 energiesmedia.com SpaceX announces plans to build natural gas power plants and battery storage for its $16.8 billion Texas chip factory Terafab isn’t a general-purpose semiconductor foundry. Musk has described plans for two specific categories of chips: one designed for Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robots and its electric vehicles, and another built for space applications—presumably for use in SpaceX’s satellite and launch systems.
7. Sunday, August 23, 2026 2 sources
   • 📰 aol.com Elon Musk To Invest $2.8 Billion In What He Once Called “The Dumbest Experiment In History” - AOL Operators are turning to on-site natural gas, sometimes called "behind-the-meter" or "dark energy" power. Electrek reported on August 10, 2026 that Musk's Terafab chip plant will run on gas rather than Tesla solar. xAI has operated dozens of turbines near Memphis.
   • 📰 livemint.com Elon Musk’s Tesla gives up on its Solar Roof tiles as EV maker 'leans into fossil fuels': Report | Company Business News “We’re bringing our own power,” said Riley Trettel, a company lead for the development of Terafab, at the Grimes County Commissioners Court last week. “We are going to be building very large battery arrays in order to store energy.” · Catch all the Business News , Corporate news , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint.
8. Monday, August 24, 2026 1 source
   • 📰 moorinsightsstrategy.com MI&S Weekly Analyst Insights — Week Ending August 21, 2026 Terafab / Patrick Moorhead / FacilitiesDive Power ‘quality’ is why SpaceX’s Terafab is going with on-site gas, analysts say
9. Sunday, August 30, 2026 4 sources
   • 𝕏 @JoeTegtmeyer Post
   • 𝕏 @cb_doge Post
   • 𝕏 @elonmusk Post
   • 📰 startupfortune.com SpaceX Is Building a Turbine Blade Factory to Escape the AI Power Crunch - Startup Fortune Texas adds another piece. Electrek reported this month that Tesla and SpaceX's Terafab chip project in Grimes County, Texas, is planned around newly built natural gas plants and large battery arrays rather than Tesla solar. The first phase was put at about $16.8 billion, with the companies saying the site is meant to produce more than a terawatt of compute per year.