Stranded North Slope Gas Gets Buyer for 3 GW
The 15-year deal feeds a planned off-grid computing campus targeting first power in 2030, with customers and costs still undisclosed.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Data Centers
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STAK Energy and ExxonMobil Alaska Production signed a 15-year Gas Sale Agreement that converts a January precedent agreement into a binding contract. The gas will fuel a planned off-grid power plant on Alaska's North Slope for Project Aaka, an advanced computing campus; this is an announced project, not yet operating.
Why it matters
The agreement gives a commercial route for North Slope gas that has gone unused for about 50 years, when it was flared or reinjected for lack of a buyer. For Alaska, it ties a large power-hungry computing load to in-state gas rather than the public grid, which is the trajectory data-center developers are testing as AI workloads outgrow available utility capacity.
The contract is a binding commercial agreement, and the project's 3 GW target is a plan, not an operating figure. The planned capacity would be generated by on-site gas turbines operating fully off-grid, but no turbine supplier, cost, or customer has been named, so the scale remains unverified.
The players
STAK Energy
Developer of Project Aaka, a planned off-grid advanced computing and power campus on Alaska's North Slope.
ExxonMobil Alaska Production
Alaska upstream unit of ExxonMobil, the energy major that is supplying the North Slope gas under the sale agreement.
The details
Project Aaka is planned as an advanced computing and power campus in an existing North Slope industrial corridor, where year-round road and airport access is available. Its electricity would come from high-efficiency gas turbines, which are generators that burn natural gas to drive electrical output, placed behind the meter, meaning they serve the campus directly rather than feeding the public grid. The company expects this to avoid disruption to Alaska's public electric grid or its ratepayers, and says it could lower energy costs for nearby North Slope infrastructure.
Timeline
January: Precedent agreement signed between the parties.
November 5, 2026: 15-year gas sale agreement completed.
2030: First power targeted from Project Aaka.
2032: Phased expansion of the campus scheduled to conclude.
The Tech Race
Project Aaka follows the pattern of large computing developers seeking dedicated power outside the public grid, using on-site gas turbines as the generation source. Its 3 GW target is the stated planned capacity, and the project has not yet named a turbine supplier or customers, so it cannot yet be placed against operating campuses.
Alaska residents and ratepayers are not expected to be affected by the grid, according to the company's projections, since the campus would run fully off-grid. The power plant itself is not operating yet, and the project has not announced availability or pricing for any computing service.
The takeaway
Watch for the first-power milestone in 2030, which will show whether the North Slope gas-to-compute model moves from contract to operation. Also watch for the naming of computing customers and a turbine supplier, which the project has not yet disclosed.
What happens next
The first power from Project Aaka is targeted for 2030, and the phased expansion is scheduled to conclude in 2032; progress against these dates is the next verifiable milestone.
Further reading
For the broader infrastructure context, see our Data Centers coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Constructionreview.
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