Oracle has guaranteed payouts to investors on a massive New Mexico data centre even if it fails to secure electrical power before the project is due to come online, according to people familiar with the matter. The tech group has issued a force majeure notice related to the power supply to the project developer, a unit of Blue Owl Capital, after the site ran into permitting delays after rising local opposition.

But under the terms of the contract, Oracle is still liable to pay a "carry cost" in lieu of rent payments for up to three years if the project is not ready by the deadline for the first phase to start operating in the first half of 2027. Construction is already under way at the 1,400-acre campus in Doña Ana County, but Oracle could be left paying for a site without electricity to run the facility if the power hook-up is not secured in time.

The site, dubbed "Project Jupiter", is at the centre of Oracle's $300bn contract to provide computing power to Open AI. A consortium of more than 20 banks, led by BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, MUFG and SMBC, provided $18bn of construction debt for the project late last year. Oracle said force majeure notices did not establish a project delay or change delivery expectations, adding that Project Jupiter remains on its planned schedule.