AI's Urgent Need for Power Spurs the Return of Dirtier Gas Turbines

The venture by OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank is stringing together small generators to power Texas megafactory

- Bloomberg

Stargate's first AI data centre is completed next year as planned; the 900-acre site will need enough round-the-clock electricity to support 300,000 homes. But securing that power isn't as simple as plugging into the grid.

Unlike arch rival Meta Platforms Inc., which Tuesday announced a 20-year deal to buy electricity from an Illinois nuclear plant, Stargate is relying on a technology that's largely been relegated to the sidelines of power production: small, single-cycle natural gas turbines.

That's because the AI boom—which has supercharged electricity demand—is unfolding faster than power plants can be built and new grid connections established.