Insights

Data-center developers are running into a severe power bottleneck as they rush to build bigger facilities to capitalize on generative AI’s potential. Normally, they would power these centers by connecting to the grid or building a power plant onsite. However, they face major delays in either securing gas turbines or in obtaining energy from the grid.

At the Data Center World Power show in San Antonio in October, natural-gas power provider ProEnergy revealed an alternative—repurposed aviation engines. According to Landon Tessmer, vice president of commercial operations at ProEnergy, some data centers are using his company’s PE6000 gas turbines to provide the power needed during the data center’s construction and during its first few years of operation. When grid power is available, these machines either revert to a backup role, supplement the grid, or are sold to the local utility.

“We have sold 21 gas turbines for two data-center projects amounting to more than 1 gigawatt,” says Tessmer. “Both projects are expected to provide bridging power for five to seven years, which is when they expect to have grid interconnection and no longer need permanent behind-the-meter generation.” (“Source: IEEE Spectrum — read the full article.”)