Agreement brings a proven power plant operator to Project Matador
Adds trained crews and reliability systems ahead of first power
DALLAS, TX / ACCESS Newswire / September 28, 2026 / Fermi Inc. (NASDAQ:FRMI)(LSE:FRMI), operating as Fermi America ("Fermi" or the "Company"), announced today an operations and maintenance (O&M) agreement with NAES Corporation ("NAES"), the largest independent operator of power plants in the United States. Under the agreement, NAES will run and maintain Fermi's natural gas turbine fleet at its Project Matador private-power campus in Carson County, Texas.
"This agreement puts a proven and experienced operator in place that has been running power plants for more than 45 years," said Lee McIntire, Fermi Chief Executive Officer. "Our first customer is signed, our turbines are secured, and our EPC partners are on board. Now, with NAES, we're adding an operating partner with operations and maintenance depth, skilled crews, and proven management systems before the first natural-gas generation units come online. That protects uptime for the customers who are counting on us for quality and reliability."
The NAES agreement follows multiple milestones in the past few months that continue to move Project Matador forward. Earlier this month, Fermi selected CBRE to operate and maintain its first data center at Project Matador and announced the arrival of its first Siemens Energy SGT6-5000F natural gas turbines on site, marking a significant step toward first power. In August, Fermi announced a binding lease agreement with TensorWave, its first customer. That same month, the Company formed a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) strategic alliance with Hillcore Energy Capital Corporation for roughly 2.6 gigawatts of added power. And prior to that, the Company signed agreements with Primoris Services Corporation and TSK as EPC partners, two of the most capable and highly respected contractors in the industry.
"Fermi is making great progress and has assembled the critical combination of land, natural gas, water, and fiber secured for its private power campus," said Charlie Hoock, President Energy Services for NAES. "We are excited to get to work on supporting this project's construction milestones and ultimately do what we're best at, ensuring the reliability and safety of the power generation plant. We're excited to partner with Fermi and put our people and programs to work on this unique project."
Agreement Highlights
Under the agreement, Fermi retains ownership of the assets and control of the facility. NAES serves as the operator. NAES will perform operating and maintenance procedures, set up the work management system, and prepare the plants for service. As Fermi's natural gas turbines come online, NAES will staff and operate the units, oversee the maintenance program, and perform site safety, and environmental compliance.
The agreement also brings in the NAES Enterprise Reliability Program, which supplies the systems that keep a fleet available. Those systems include operator training, asset risk reviews, maintenance planning, control reviews, and a live reliability dashboard. The systems are critical to maintaining uptime, which is top priority for Fermi's Project Matador.
About Fermi's Project Matador
Fermi America is where AI gets power. The Company is developing one of the world's largest advanced energy and AI ecosystems in the Texas Panhandle. The site, called Project Matador, is secured or under long-term lease with more than $1.5 billion invested in buildout to date. Fermi designed the project to solve the single biggest constraint in AI infrastructure: access to large-scale, reliable power on a timeline that meets customer demand - delivered behind the meter and on a private grid built and operated on site. Subject to entering into binding customer agreements, the project is expected to ramp to approximately 17 GW, with capital deployment matched to commercial commitments.
About Fermi America
Fermi America (Nasdaq/LSE:FRMI) develops next-generation private electric grids that deliver highly redundant power at gigawatt scale to support next-generation intelligence and AI compute. Fermi America combines cutting-edge technology with a deep bench of proven world-class multi-disciplinary leaders with a combined 25 GW of experience, to create one of the world's largest, 17 GW next-gen private grid, helping ensure America's energy and AI dominance. The behind-the-meter Project Matador campus is expected to integrate the nation's biggest combined-cycle natural gas project, one of the largest clean, new nuclear power complexes in America, utility grid power, solar power, and battery energy storage, to support hyperscale AI and advanced computing. For additional information visit www.fermiamerica.com.
About NAES
NAES is an independent services company dedicated to optimizing the performance of energy facilities across the power generation and industrial landscape. Founded in 1980, NAES and its more than 3,000 team members bring decades of experience in operations, maintenance, construction, engineering, and technical support to build, operate, and maintain both traditional and renewable energy facilities. NAES leverages a diverse customer base and a wide range of operational requirements to deliver tailored, high-value solutions. This reach and expertise enable NAES to operate and optimize critical energy infrastructure, helping customers improve reliability, efficiency, and long-term asset performance.
Investor Contact
Barry Sievert | IR@fermiamerica.com
Media Contact
Fermi Inc. Communications | media@fermiamerica.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the Company's commercial strategy, tenant agreements, Project Matador, expected capacity, delivery schedules, financing arrangements, expansion opportunities, the potential exercise of expansion rights and any resulting capacity or revenue, expected contracted revenue, the anticipated growth of the company's relationship with TensorWave, market demand, the timing and conditions of construction capital deployment, the sufficiency and continued availability of tenant credit support, the availability of project financing, and future operations. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required by law.
SOURCE: Fermi Inc.
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/oil-gas-and-energy/fermi-selects-naes-to-operate-and-maintain-its-natural-gas-turbine-fleet-1227374
