While the rest of NEOM’s sci-fi fantasy has violently collided with financial reality, one project continues to rise above the desert dust. Oxagon, the massive, octagonal floating industrial city, has proven to be the sole survivor of Saudi Arabia’s $50 billion mirage. Unlike the vanity residential concepts that have ground to a halt, Oxagon’s anchor in tangible industrial utility has kept the cranes moving.
As of August 2026, the construction landscape at Oxagon tells a vastly different story than the abandoned trenches of The Line. Here is exactly where the project stands today and when we can expect full activation:
The Green Hydrogen Mega-Plant (Completed)
Consequently, the most significant breakthrough just arrived this month: construction on the $8.5 billion green hydrogen plant has officially been completed. Developed as a joint venture with Air Products and ACWA Power, the facility has successfully entered its commissioning phase. Ultimately, this plant will rely on an integrated 4 GW network of solar and wind energy to generate up to 600 tons of carbon-free green hydrogen daily. With the infrastructure fully built, commercial exports of green ammonia are firmly targeted for 2027.
Port of NEOM & Terminal 1
Furthermore, the advanced seaport remains the beating heart of the operation. While early cargo handling has been functional since 2022, the state-of-the-art Terminal 1 infrastructure is currently in its final stages. The target for full, automated terminal operations remains set for the end of 2026, positioning the Red Sea logistics corridor to bypass traditional routing entirely.
Hexagon Hive & AI Pivots
Simultaneously, the foundational life-support systems are already live. The Hexagon Hive community, which includes residential housing for up to 2,400 early inhabitants, food halls, and schools, is fully operational. Looking slightly further down the timeline, a staggering $5 billion partnership with DataVolt signals a strategic pivot toward AI infrastructure, with a cutting-edge data center targeted for completion in 2028.
Indeed, the onshore development of Oxagon is methodically pacing toward its finalized 2030 master completion date. Much like we explored in “The Beautiful Terrifying Shift,” this pivot from impossible vanity projects to hard, industrial pragmatism represents a necessary maturation. Saudi Arabia hasn’t abandoned its vision entirely; it simply realized that before you can build a floating moon, you first have to build the factory that powers it.
