Facing Long Grid Interconnection Queues, AI Data Centers Turn to Repurposed Jet Engines for On-Site Power
Data centers are turning to old jet engines as the wait for power grows
Faced with multi-year grid interconnection queues, some AI data centers are turning to natural gas turbines repurposed from retired passenger jets to generate their own power and accelerate deployment. These modified turbines can bring a data center online within 24 months, compared to an estimated seven-year wait to connect a 100 MW load in Northern Virginia. xAI has already installed eight repurposed turbines in Mississippi to power Colossus 2, while Crusoe has ordered 13 ProEnergy units for OpenAI's Abilene campus in Texas.
The prolonged wait for grid access has forced companies to deploy converted aircraft engines for self-generated power, reflecting a stopgap compromise as computing expansion runs up against severe bottlenecks in utility lead times.
Source:TechCrunch AI · techcrunch.com