A Florida-based energy developer has signed a binding letter of intent with a prominent Louisiana landowner group to build a 2.88 gigawatt natural gas plant and battery storage system near southern Louisiana's RiverPlex MegaPark, positioning the site to eventually power a large but still-unnamed data center. The project, known as Project Cayman, would sit between Baton Rouge and New Orleans and could later transition to small modular reactor technology once that technology becomes commercially available.
The developer, ONE Nuclear, describes itself as an energy platform rather than an SMR developer, according to Data Center Dynamics, which first reported the binding agreement. The company plans to develop a 2.88GW natural gas plant paired with a 700 megawatt, 2.88 gigawatt-hour battery energy storage system, all co-located with the proposed data center. ONE Nuclear uses on-site natural gas generation to anchor its sites while it sources small modular reactors from third parties for later phases, deploying them at its campuses once the technology matures.
Details on the data center itself remain scarce. The capacity of the proposed facility, its development timeline, and any potential tenant partners have not been disclosed, per the outlet's reporting. What is clear is the site's strategic positioning: Project Cayman is planned near Ascension Parish's RiverPlex MegaPark, a 17,000-acre contiguous industrial megasite on the west bank of the Mississippi River that already has a 20-inch natural gas pipeline, deepwater shipping access, and direct proximity to Union Pacific rail lines, according to the Ascension Economic Development Corporation.
A Corridor Already Crowded With Megaprojects
Project Cayman's announcement lands in an industrial corridor that has become a magnet for outsized capital investment. RiverPlex MegaPark has recently landed SpaceX's infrastructure expansion northeast of the site along with Hyundai Steel's $5.8 billion electric-arc-furnace steel mill now under construction, illustrating the rapid concentration of heavy industrial and aerospace projects in Ascension Parish, as noted by Energy Monitor. Hoodline previously reported on the construction traffic strain that megaproject has already put on local roads, following a dump truck rollover tied to Donaldsonville haulers in the spring.
The region's grid is also being rebuilt to handle that growth. Entergy Louisiana is executing an approximately $499 million West Bank 230 kV Transmission Project connecting a new Commodore switching station in Iberville Parish to the Waterford station in St. Charles Parish, part of a broader effort to build storm-hardened Gulf Coast transmission lines for heavy industrial load growth. ONE Nuclear currently has three active development sites, with additional projects underway in Texas, New Mexico, and Washington, and it has begun community outreach efforts in Louisiana ahead of Project Cayman's next steps.
Public Meetings Planned Amid a Statewide Nuclear Push
ONE Nuclear plans to hold public information meetings this month with local parishes, government agencies, and other project stakeholders, the company says. Project Cayman is expected to create jobs, expand the local tax base, and generate additional funding for community priorities and critical infrastructure, according to the company's own statements relayed by Data Center Dynamics — claims that will likely face scrutiny as the outreach process unfolds.
The project's eventual pivot toward small modular reactors fits into a broader state strategy. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry unveiled the state's Nuclear Strategic Framework in March at CERAWeek, establishing a policy roadmap for expanding nuclear generation, component manufacturing, and fuel conversion to support power-hungry data centers, according to Louisiana Economic Development. That framework has already generated friction over who foots the bill: Hoodline reported that state regulators postponed a vote until September 16 on a proposed nuclear fee for ratepayers that would add a 20-cent monthly charge to electric bills to fund early SMR research, with regulators divided over whether captive utility customers should absorb speculative nuclear development costs.
Riding a Bigger Wave of Data Center Demand
Project Cayman is not an isolated bet. Louisiana has several large-scale data center campuses slated for development, anchored by Meta's planned campus of up to 5GW in Richland Parish and multiple campuses Amazon is developing across the state, according to Louisiana AI Hub's project tracking. That surge in demand has already reshaped Entergy Louisiana's capital plans; the utility expanded its four-year capital expenditure plan to $57 billion after filing applications in 2026 to build up to 10 new natural gas power units totaling more than 7.5GW, largely to power Meta's expanding Richland Parish data center, per Utility Dive.
Entergy has also moved to insulate residential customers from the costs of that build-out. Under its Fair Share Plus framework announced in August, large data center contracts require tech operators to pay 100% of their direct grid connection costs, a structure the utility projects will save customers roughly $7 billion across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas over 20 years, with initial bill credits tied to data center revenues beginning to take effect. ONE Nuclear's own footprint stretches well beyond Louisiana — the company previously signed a letter of intent with Sunshine Partners US LLC in June to jointly evaluate natural gas, SMR, and battery storage facilities across five West Texas sites spanning roughly 18,275 acres in the ERCOT West market.
ONE Nuclear's path to becoming a publicly traded company adds another layer to the story. Shareholders of Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. VII approved a business combination with ONE Nuclear in late August, clearing the way for the developer to list on Nasdaq under the ticker ONEN with a base transaction valuation of $1.0 billion, positioning the company to seek capital for its multi-gigawatt power ambitions just as it courts Louisiana communities over Project Cayman.
