AI Data Centers Turn Retired Jet Engines Into Power Plants as Grid Delays Hit Seven Years
AI data centers are reviving retired jet engines for power as grid waits hit seven years, trading faster launches for higher pollution and lower efficiency.
Summary
As of November 3, 2026, AI data center operators facing years-long waits for grid connections and new turbines are rebuilding retired aircraft engines to burn natural gas, prioritizing speed over permanent-plant economics. Rystad Energy analyst Audun Martinsen says converted units can bring a site online in 24 months; the International Energy Agency puts a 100-megawatt Northern Virginia grid hookup at about seven years. A Mitsubishi Power executive expects most power capacity by 2031. In October 2026, Microsoft withdrew as anchor customer from Nscale’s Loughton, England, center after the utility delayed adequate power until the early to mid-2030s.
Elon Musk’s xAI installed eight converted jet-engine turbines in Mississippi to support Colossus 2 in Memphis. Supplier ProEnergy rebuilds a GE engine common on Boeing jets. OpenAI deployed gas turbines in 2025 at its first Stargate site in Abilene, Texas; Denver-based AI data center builder Crusoe is constructing the campus and ordered 13 ProEnergy units in April.
In September, Crusoe exited a $1.25 billion agreement for 29 natural-gas turbines from Boom Supersonic, which is developing a supersonic passenger jet and markets a power-plant version of its engine to data centers, but Crusoe still plans to use turbines. The Trump administration is encouraging data centers to generate their own electricity. Converted jet engines are less efficient, more polluting and required in larger numbers than purpose-built gas-plant turbines, so experts say environmental and efficiency pressure could make them a short-term bridge within a year or two.
Positives
- Converted jet engines could bring an AI data center online in 24 months, compared with seven years for a 100-megawatt Northern Virginia grid connection.
- xAI installed eight ProEnergy turbines in Mississippi to support its Colossus 2 data center in Memphis.
- OpenAI deployed gas turbines at its first Stargate site in Abilene, Texas, in 2025.
- Crusoe ordered 13 converted ProEnergy units in April while constructing OpenAI’s Abilene campus.
- Most power capacity is expected by 2031, according to a Mitsubishi Power executive.
Risks & concerns
- Microsoft abandoned Nscale’s Loughton center after the utility delayed sufficient power until the early to mid-2030s.
- Converted jet engines consume fuel less efficiently and pollute more than turbines designed for conventional gas plants.
- Data centers need more converted aircraft engines to produce the same power as purpose-built gas turbines.
- Crusoe exited a $1.25 billion agreement for 29 Boom Supersonic natural-gas turbines in September.
- Efficiency and environmental concerns could make converted jet engines only a short-term solution within one or two years.