AI Data Centers Turn to Converted Jet Engines
Repurposed aviation turbines let operators skip seven-year grid waits, but the research and deployment trade-offs in efficiency and emissions are still open.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Data Centers
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Some AI data centers are generating their own electricity using converted jet engines pulled from retired aircraft and rebuilt to burn natural gas. The approach is in active use rather than purely hypothetical, with xAI installing eight such turbines in Mississippi to help power its Colossus 2 data center in Memphis.
Why it matters
Grid connections are slow: hooking up 100 megawatts in Northern Virginia takes about seven years, and Microsoft pulled out as anchor customer for Nscale's Loughton, England data center after the utility could not deliver power until the early-to-mid 2030s. On-site generation is becoming a way around those queues, which suggests power access is now a binding constraint on where AI infrastructure gets built.
Converted jet engines can be running in 24 months, compared with about seven years to connect 100 megawatts to the grid in Northern Virginia. Crusoe ordered 13 of ProEnergy's converted units in April, and xAI installed eight in Mississippi, though converted engines are less efficient and need more units to produce the same power as conventional gas plants.
The players
Microsoft
Cloud and AI infrastructure company whose exit as anchor customer stalled Nscale's Loughton, England data center.
xAI
Elon Musk's AI company, which installed eight converted jet-engine turbines in Mississippi to power its Colossus 2 data center in Memphis.
Crusoe
Denver-based data center developer that ordered 13 ProEnergy converted units and abandoned a $1.25 billion turbine deal with Boom Supersonic.
ProEnergy
Manufacturer that rebuilds GE engines commonly found on Boeing jets into natural gas generation units for data centers.
OpenAI
AI developer that used gas turbines at its first Stargate site in Abilene, Texas, in 2025.
The details
Converted jet engines are rebuilt to burn natural gas, with ProEnergy reworking a GE engine commonly found on Boeing jets. Data center operators install these units on site, so the facility generates its own electricity independent of the grid. Because the engines are less efficient and pollute more than turbines designed for conventional gas plants, operators need more of them to match the same output.
Timeline
September: Crusoe walked away from a $1.25 billion deal to buy 29 natural gas turbines from Boom Supersonic.
April: Crusoe ordered 13 ProEnergy converted units.
October 2026: Microsoft pulled out as anchor customer for the Loughton, England data center.
2031: Most power capacity is expected to come on by this year.
The Tech Race
Data center operators are racing to secure power faster than grid connection timelines allow, and repurposed jet engines have become one of the quickest routes available. The approach sits alongside OpenAI's gas turbines at its Stargate site in Abilene, Texas, as operators look past grid queues toward self-supplied generation.
Operators that cannot wait for grid connections may use converted jet-engine generators to bring new AI capacity online sooner. Timelines and pricing for these units beyond the named deployments are not established in the source.
The takeaway
Watch whether converted jet-engine generation becomes a standard fallback for data centers or stays a short-term bridge, as projections suggest efficiency and emissions concerns may grow within a year or two. Track the next grid-connection and turbine delivery milestones at sites such as Loughton and Memphis to see whether the 2031 capacity forecast holds.
Further reading
For more on how operators are securing capacity, see our Data Centers coverage.
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