Stargate UAE

G42 / Khazna · Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Water — consumed, not returned

Taken from the basin2,336M gal/yr

Evaporated on site123M gal

Making the power2,213M gal

Basin stressExtremely High

Where the water comes from: Closed loop — negligible draw
Cooling: Air-cooled closed loop — evaporative cooling is impractical at Gulf temperatures and water cost
Basis: Modelled from cooling design — WUE 0.05 L/kWh

Air — what the stacks emit

Nitrogen oxides1,117t/yr

Sulphur dioxide186t/yr

Fine particulates65.2t PM2.5

Health damages$56.4M/yr

Where it burns: UAE — Emirates Water & Electricity
Generation mix: Gas 63 · Nuclear 24 · Solar 12
CO₂e: 3,016 kt/yr — climate, not air quality

Who wanted it

Who asked for it: OpenAI and the UAE government — partnership with Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco and SoftBank announced in 2025
Who approved it: UAE federal approval; US Commerce Department export licences for the advanced chips are the binding constraint, not local permits
What it serves: OpenAI models for the Gulf region plus UAE sovereign AI
IT capacity: 0 MW running of 1,000 MW announced

Phase one of an announced 5 GW campus. Almost all UAE freshwater is desalinated, so water cooling is off the table; the tradeoff is higher electricity use on a gas-and-nuclear grid.

chip export licenceswater-stressed basin

Where it is

24.4300°, 54.6400°

Google Maps Satellite See it on the map

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.