Saudi data-center developer DataVolt and NEOM announced on February 10, 2025, an agreement to develop a phased artificial-intelligence data-center campus at Oxagon on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast. DataVolt is the named investor for an initial $5 billion first phase, while NEOM describes the overall campus as planned for 1.5 gigawatts and says phase one is expected to be operational by 2028.
The announcement describes a development plan, not an operating facility. “Net zero” and entirely renewable-powered are stated design ambitions; no independent certification, operating emissions data, financing close, or construction milestone was established in the announcement.
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What was announced
NEOM and DataVolt said they would design and develop a large-scale AI “factory” campus at Oxagon, NEOM’s industrial and clean-technology hub. The project is intended to combine high-density computing, energy-efficient architectures and advanced cooling in a phased build-out.
| Item | Announcement detail |
|---|---|
| Announcement date | February 10, 2025 |
| Developer and investor | DataVolt, described by NEOM as a Saudi-based data-center developer, investor and operator |
| Development partner and site | NEOM’s Oxagon industrial hub |
| Planned scale | 1.5 GW for the proposed campus; the announcement does not define whether this is IT load, total facility power, interconnection capacity or ultimate site capacity |
| Phase-one investment | Initial $5 billion from DataVolt |
| Schedule | Phase one expected to be operational by 2028, according to the announcement |
| Energy and sustainability goals | Entirely renewable-powered ambition, advanced cooling and design for net-zero operation |
NEOM’s announcement says Oxagon will lease land to DataVolt and provide infrastructure support. The Saudi Press Agency account reports the same core commitments.
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What the $5 billion does—and does not—mean
DataVolt is the named investor
The primary announcement attributes the initial $5 billion to DataVolt. It does not describe a $5 billion Saudi government grant, bailout or direct sovereign spending allocation. A precise description is that DataVolt committed an initial $5 billion to phase one under an agreement with NEOM.
It covers phase one, not necessarily the whole campus
The $5 billion is explicitly an initial phase-one investment. It should not be treated as the cost of building the entire 1.5-GW campus. Later phases could require additional capital and depend on power, financing, equipment and customer demand.
How large is a 1.5-GW AI campus?
A 1.5-GW data-center campus would be exceptionally large. However, a gigawatt headline does not tell readers how much power would reach servers. Operators may use “capacity” to mean IT load, total facility power, grid connection or an ultimate multi-phase site envelope. NEOM’s release does not specify the convention.
That uncertainty makes it impossible to calculate a reliable number of GPUs, racks, AI models or households served from the 1.5-GW figure alone. The plan does indicate a scale intended for dense AI and high-performance-computing workloads, with different computing densities and energy-efficient architectures delivered over time.
Why Oxagon?
NEOM presents Oxagon as a location where digital infrastructure can connect with industrial and energy systems. The announcement cites several potential advantages:
- Access to renewable-energy resources.
- Potential access to green hydrogen.
- Subsea-cable connectivity for international networks.
- Industrial, logistics and other infrastructure associated with the Red Sea location.
These are location attributes and development aims, not proof that dedicated generation, hydrogen production, storage or network capacity has already been contracted for the campus.
How credible is the net-zero claim?
NEOM says the facility is designed to operate at net zero and aims to use entirely renewable power. Those statements describe the proposed design. They do not establish that the campus has achieved net zero or that its full lifecycle emissions will be zero.
Questions the announcement leaves open
- Renewable supply: No dedicated solar or wind capacity, power-purchase agreement, generation mix or hourly matching method was disclosed.
- Reliability: AI workloads need stable power, but the project’s grid connection, batteries, hydrogen systems, backup generation and workload-management plans were not identified.
- Cooling and water: “Advanced cooling technologies” were promised without a cooling type, Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE), water source or reuse target.
- Embodied carbon: Renewable electricity does not eliminate emissions from concrete, steel, transformers, servers, accelerators, semiconductor manufacturing, construction, replacement or decommissioning.
- Accounting boundary: The parties did not state whether “net zero” covers operational emissions only or includes construction and supply-chain emissions across scopes 1, 2 and 3.
- Verification: No independent certification or third-party performance data was announced.
As Data Center Knowledge explains, renewable electricity addresses an important part of a data center’s footprint but does not by itself settle lifecycle emissions. Cooling and water disclosure will also matter in Saudi Arabia’s hot, arid climate.
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Status: Announced development agreement.
- Announced: February 10, 2025
- Developer: DataVolt
- Partner and site: NEOM’s Oxagon
- Planned scale: 1.5 GW
- Phase-one investment: $5 billion from DataVolt
- Target: Phase one expected to be operational by 2028
- Not established by the primary announcement: Construction start, financing close, tenant commitments, accelerator suppliers, operating performance or independent sustainability certification
“Operational by 2028” should be read as a target for the first phase, not a promise that the full 1.5-GW campus will be complete. It could also refer to initial service or commissioning rather than full build-out.
How it fits Saudi Arabia’s wider AI infrastructure push
The DataVolt–NEOM campus is one of several separate Saudi technology and data-center commitments. They involve different companies, sites, capacities and commercial models.
| Project | Main parties | Announced amount | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oxagon AI factory | DataVolt and NEOM | Initial $5 billion for phase one | Planned 1.5-GW campus with renewable-energy and net-zero design goals |
| AWS–HUMAIN AI Zone | Amazon Web Services and HUMAIN | More than $5 billion | AI infrastructure, AWS services, training and applications |
| AWS Saudi region | AWS | $5.3 billion | Cloud infrastructure region in Saudi Arabia |
The separate AWS and HUMAIN announcement is broader than one data-center campus. It covers infrastructure, cloud services and talent development. Other LEAP 2025 commitments involved companies including Mobily, Alfanar Projects, and Aramco Digital with Groq; they should not be counted as components of the Oxagon project. See AWS and HUMAIN’s announcement and The National’s LEAP 2025 coverage for those separate commitments.
Quick Recap
What to watch next
- A construction-start announcement and evidence of site or power works.
- Financial close, additional investors and contracted customers.
- The definition of the 1.5-GW capacity figure and the schedule for later phases.
- Renewable procurement, storage, grid backup and reliability design.
- PUE, WUE, water sourcing and reuse disclosures.
- Lifecycle carbon accounting, hardware-replacement plans and independent net-zero verification.
- Any change to the 2028 phase-one target.
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