SpaceX is preparing to open a factory in Bastrop, Texas, to make turbine blades and vanes in-house as equipment shortages in the gas turbine market stretch years into the future. The move follows a warning from Elon Musk, who said gas turbines are effectively sold out through 2030.
Musk said internal production at SpaceX and Tesla could bring gas turbines online as much as 18 months sooner. He linked the bottleneck mainly to casting constraints that are limiting supply across the market.
The shortage is already reshaping how data center operators plan their power needs. According to POWER Magazine, companies are increasingly pairing industrial boilers with steam turbines to work around long gas turbine lead times. Applied Digital CEO Wes Cummins said gas turbines ordered today might not arrive until 2032.
Gas and steam turbines, however, are not interchangeable technologies. Gas turbines are built to handle higher temperatures and loads, which requires specialized alloys and more demanding manufacturing processes. Steam turbines can use a broader range of materials, and their supply chain is older, deeper, and more flexible.
Still, the report notes that both options ultimately rely on natural gas. A gas turbine converts the fuel directly into electricity, while a steam turbine system first burns gas on-site to boil water, and the resulting steam drives the turbine.
The more established supply chain for boilers and steam systems is already generating major contracts. Babcock & Wilcox said it has a $2.4 billion agreement with Base Electron to provide 1.2 GW of generation for Applied Digital's AI campuses. The company will supply boilers for the on-site power plant, with operations expected to begin in 2028.
The article says existing nuclear capacity and new natural gas projects remain the most prominent answers to the fast-growing power demands of data centers. Over the longer term, hyperscalers are aiming to run facilities entirely on renewables and/or nuclear energy, with fossil fuels serving as a bridge for now.
