Colossus 2 / Southaven

xAI · Southaven, Mississippi

Water — consumed, not returned

Taken from the basin313M gal/yr
Evaporated on site43.9M gal
Making the power269M gal
Basin stressLow-Medium
Where the water comes from
Municipal potable supply
Cooling
Liquid-to-chip closed loop
Basis
Modelled from cooling design — WUE 0.19 L/kWh

Air — what the stacks emit

Nitrogen oxides225t/yr
Sulphur dioxide108t/yr
Fine particulates20.9t PM2.5
Health damages$18.0M/yr
Where it burns
TVA — Tennessee Valley + 40% turbines on the site itself
Generation mix
Nuclear 41 · Gas 27 · Coal 13 · Hydro 10
Emitted at the fence line
49% of this site's criteria pollution
CO₂e
321 kt/yr — climate, not air quality

Who wanted it

Who asked for it
xAI — self-build; also drawing on a Solaris Energy gas turbine fleet
Who approved it
DeSoto County and Mississippi state incentives; MDEQ air permitting for on-site turbines; TVA power supply agreement
What it serves
Grok training capacity expansion across the state line from Memphis
IT capacity
100 MW running of 600 MW announced

Built just across the Mississippi line from the Memphis site, in a different air-permitting jurisdiction. Whether that was deliberate is disputed, but it is a recurring pattern: state lines are where large loads shop for permits.

on-site gas turbinesenvironmental-justice case

Where it is

34.9890°, -90.0126°

Water and air figures are modelled from disclosed capacity, not measured — site-level error is roughly ±40%. Diesel backup generators are not counted, so on-site figures are floors. Full method.