Data centers turn to retired aircraft engines as grid connections lag

Data centers turn to aircraft engines for faster power

Speed over waiting

The engines are removed from retired aircraft, rebuilt and converted to run on natural gas. They are not considered a permanent replacement for power plants, but electricity shortages are pushing companies toward them.

The main advantage of converted engines is how quickly they can be installed. Rystad Energy analyst Audun Martinsen says they can bring a data center online in 24 months. By comparison, connecting 100 megawatts to the grid in Northern Virginia takes about seven years, according to the International Energy Agency.

Most new power-generation capacity is expected to come online by 2031. Bloomberg reported this last week, citing the head of Mitsubishi Power, one of the world’s largest power-generation equipment manufacturers.

Delays are already affecting data center operators’ businesses. Last month, Microsoft withdrew as the primary customer for Nscale’s center in Loughton, England, after the local utility said it could not supply the site with enough electricity until the early or mid-2030s.

Who is installing aircraft engines

Elon Musk’s xAI has installed eight turbines converted from aircraft engines in Mississippi. They help supply electricity to the Colossus 2 data center in Memphis. The New York Times reported that state records and satellite images confirm the installations. ProEnergy supplied the turbines; the company rebuilds a GE engine commonly used on Boeing aircraft.

In 2025, OpenAI followed suit, installing gas turbines at the first Stargate site in Abilene, Texas. The campus is being built by Crusoe, a Denver startup specializing in data centers for AI. In April, the company ordered 13 converted turbines from ProEnergy.

In September, Crusoe pulled out of a $1.25 billion deal to buy 29 gas turbines from Boom Supersonic. The startup is developing a supersonic passenger aircraft and has also begun selling a version of its engine for data center power. At the time, a Crusoe representative told TechCrunch that the company still intended to use turbines.

The Trump administration is increasing pressure on the industry, urging data centers to generate their own electricity.

The cost of a fast launch

Converted aircraft engines are less efficient and cause more pollution than turbines designed for conventional gas-fired power plants. More of them are needed to generate the same amount of electricity, The New York Times reports.

Dataist's take: converted engines help operators avoid long waits for grid connections, but they do not remove power constraints. The faster deployment comes at the cost of lower efficiency and higher emissions. Some experts believe efficiency and environmental impact could become bigger concerns within a year or two.