Viridien Data Center, Brenham, Texas

Viridien, the French earth data and technology company formerly known as CGG, plans what it calls a high performance computing center, a small data center, on 21 acres it owns at 2602 Longwood Drive in Brenham, in Washington County, Texas. The $100 million, 40,000-square-foot facility is meant to become the company's main U.S. operations center, moving employees from Houston. On January 8, 2026 the Brenham City Council voted 5-0 to deny it a tax break, refusing to create Reinvestment Zone No. 55.

City Hall's chamber, which holds 75, overflowed into the lobby, and many residents said it was the first they had heard of a project the city had been discussing since around 2022. "They're headquartered in France. I don't understand why we are benefiting a French company, I don't understand," one resident said.

Mayor Atwood Kenjura said the process of making the project public could have been handled differently but maintained it had not been rushed or concealed, and Councilmember Steve Soman asked the company, "Why should we grant you this that's going to cost the city millions of dollars?"

Viridien's facilities manager James Whatley said the building would cool its servers by submerging them in mineral oil, with a closed water loop filled once: "Water for here will be zero for our compute." Local geologist Taylor Farmer doubted that would last, noting that deed restrictions on water-based cooling expire after 10 years, and questioned the company's promise that the center would not do large-scale AI work. "We will move forward with this project regardless of the decision," Whatley said.

In April 2026 Viridien said the 40,300-square-foot building would draw 5 megawatts of power at first, up to 21 megawatts if it expands, with power from Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative and Viridien paying for any substation or transmission upgrades. It said construction would start early in 2026 and finish by the end of 2027, creating about 26 permanent jobs, and that it had applied for state tax incentives instead of the city's. The project now pays full city taxes after losing the reinvestment zone.