Data center operators are buying used aircraft engines and decommissioned turbines to power artificial intelligence infrastructure, according to a Reuters analysis covered by Trending Topics.
Lead times for new gas turbines in the United States average six years. Delivery discussions stretch into 2030 and 2031, Aurora Tenorio, a senior analyst at Wood Mackenzie, told MarketScreener Deutschland. Global orders exceed 100 gigawatts against a total production capacity of 60 to 70 gigawatts, according to Trending Topics.
New turbines cost between $2 million and $2.5 million per megawatt. Well-maintained used units trade for $1.5 to $1.7 million, and overhauled models cost about $1.3 million, Trending Topics reported. The Tennessee Valley Authority, a state-owned US utility company, said that prices for all equipment have increased over the past two years.
AI infrastructure firms are securing gas power independently. Anthropic is paying $3.4 billion for gas generators yielding 1.7 gigawatts from Caterpillar, Trending Topics reported. Elon Musk’s xAI, which operates under SpaceX, has bought turbines totaling nearly $3 billion and planned a power plant with 41 turbines in Mississippi, according to Trending Topics.
Several companies convert retired aircraft engines into power plant units. Crusoe ordered 13 converted engines from ProEnergy totaling 650 megawatts, and an unnamed cloud provider ordered more than 100 CFM56 aggregates from FTAI for 2027 and 2028, Trending Topics said.
ReflowX was not mentioned in the sources. Ana Amicarella, CEO of equipment specialist EthosEnergy, said “The secondary market is very, very hot right now.” Darayus Pardivala, who leads the US replacement parts and service business for Sulzer, said he receives inquiries every few weeks from entities seeking used gas turbines for data centers.
Jefferies analysts estimate that US data centers alone will demand nearly 17 gigawatts this year. That figure could more than triple by 2028, while US utilities plan nearly three times as many gas power plants as they did in 2023. In England, Microsoft withdrew as an anchor tenant for a data center in Loughton because the grid operator could not deliver power until the 2030s.
