AI Data Centers Turn to Repurposed Jet Engines as Grid Delays Drag On

Facing years-long waits for grid connections and new turbines, some AI data centers are generating their own power with converted jet engines, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

The engines, taken from retired aircraft and rebuilt to burn natural gas, are not intended as permanent power plants. But they signal how far electricity supply has fallen behind the AI buildout.

Speed is the main appeal. "It's all about getting power as fast as possible," Rystad Energy analyst Audun Martinsen told the Times, noting that jet-powered units can have a data center running 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 power capacity is expected online by 2031, a Mitsubishi Power executive told Bloomberg last week.

The delays are already costing some operators business. Last month, Microsoft withdrew as anchor customer for Nscale's data center in Loughton, England, after the local utility said it could not deliver enough power until the early to mid-2030s.

Elon Musk's xAI has installed eight converted jet-engine turbines in Mississippi to help power its Colossus 2 data center in Memphis, the Times reported, citing state permits and satellite imagery. The units come from ProEnergy, which rebuilds a GE engine commonly found on Boeing jets. In 2025, OpenAI used gas turbines at its first Stargate site in Abilene, Texas. Crusoe, the Denver-based startup building that campus, ordered 13 of ProEnergy's converted units in April. In September, Crusoe walked away from a $1.25 billion deal to buy 29 natural gas turbines from Boom Supersonic; a spokesperson told TechCrunch the company still plans to use turbines.

The Trump administration is adding pressure by encouraging data centers to generate their own electricity.

The trade-offs are real: converted jet engines are less efficient and pollute more than turbines built for conventional gas plants, and more of them are needed for the same output, according to the Times. That may make them a short-term fix, with some experts saying efficiency and environmental concerns could grow in importance within a year or two.

Source: TechCrunch