xAI Deploys Eight Converted Jet-Engine Turbines for Colossus 2
The New York Times, citing Mississippi state permits and satellite imagery, reported that xAI installed eight converted jet-engine turbines in Mississippi to help power its Colossus 2 data center in Memphis. ProEnergy refurbished the retired General Electric engines, which are commonly found on Boeing aircraft and were adapted to burn natural gas. Each turbine is reportedly capable of producing up to 50 megawatts. The deployment offers a faster source of power than waiting years for grid connections, which have placed some AI data centers in lengthy connection queues. The Southern Environmental Law Center has challenged Mississippi’s approval of the turbines over emissions concerns, including formaldehyde and projected emissions; the reports do not state the outcome of that challenge.
The deployment illustrates the power constraints facing AI data-center expansion and the rapid adoption of converted aircraft engines as an alternative to waiting for grid connections. It also highlights trade-offs: the reports say converted engines are less efficient and more polluting than turbines designed for conventional gas plants, while their use has prompted environmental objections and a legal challenge.
Stuck in years-long lines for grid connections and new turbines, some AI data centers are making their own electricity with converted jet engines, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
The engines, pulled from retired aircraft and rebuilt to burn natural gas, aren’t anyone’s idea of a permanent power plant. But they’re another sign of how far power supply has fallen behind the AI buildout.
For companies stuck in those lines, the main draw of converted jet engines is how quickly the engines can be up and running. “It’s all about getting power as fast as possible,” Rystad Energy analyst Audun Martinsen told the Times. With jet-powered units, “they can have a data center running in 24 months,” he said.
Hooking up 100 megawatts to the grid in Northern Virginia, by comparison, takes about seven years, according to the International Energy Agency. Most power capacity is expected to come on by 2031, an executive at Mitsubishi Power, one of the world’s top makers of power generation equipment, told Bloomberg last week.
In some cases, these delays are already costing some data center operators business. Last month, Microsoft pulled out as the anchor customer for Nscale’s data center in Loughton, England, after the local utility said it couldn’t deliver enough power until the early to mid-2030s.
#xAI#Colossus 2#ProEnergy#General Electric#Boeing#Rystad Energy#International Energy Agency#Southern Environmental Law Center