The acute shortage of gas turbines is becoming the latest obstacle to AI data center expansion. As computing demand climbs, operators are increasingly exploring alternatives to turbine-based generation, with a combination of industrial boilers and steam turbines emerging as a practical workaround.

Wes Cummins, CEO of Applied Digital, noted that the company's current gas turbine order may not be delivered until as late as 2032. Elon Musk has likewise cautioned that turbines are effectively sold out through 2030, adding that SpaceX and Tesla may need to manufacture their own turbine blades to ease the crunch.

Prolonged lead times for turbine supply are forcing AI infrastructure developers to rethink their energy strategies. According to POWER Magazine, some data centers have begun implementing industrial boilers paired with steam turbines to bypass the long wait for combustion turbines.

This shift is already taking shape in real projects. U.S. power equipment supplier Babcock & Wilcox has signed a $2.4 billion agreement with independent power producer Base Electron to build a 1.2-gigawatt boiler-based power facility for Applied Digital's AI campus, expected to begin operations by 2028.

Why gas turbines are so hard to source

The supply bottleneck for gas turbines stems not merely from limited capacity but from demanding manufacturing requirements. Turbines must operate continuously under extreme heat and load, requiring high-performance alloys, precision casting, and specialized processes that make rapid production scale-up difficult.

In contrast, steam turbines run at lower temperatures, accommodate a broader range of materials, and rely on more established supply chains. This makes boiler-plus-steam-turbine systems a relatively easier route to expand when turbine deliveries stretch out.

Musk is attempting to break the bottleneck from the production side. SpaceX is setting up a foundry in Bastrop, Texas, to address casting capacity for critical turbine parts. He says internalizing these manufacturing steps could speed up turbine availability by as much as 18 months.

Boiler and steam turbine combo serves as a bridge

From a supply chain viewpoint, the main advantage of using boilers with steam turbines is not efficiency but accessibility—these systems are easier to obtain and quicker to deploy.

Both configurations can run on pipeline natural gas, but they generate power differently: gas turbines burn fuel directly to spin the generator, while boiler-plus-steam systems first produce steam and then use that steam to drive a turbine.

The latter adds an extra energy conversion step, yet its equipment supply chains are more mature. According to POWER Magazine, Rentech Boiler Systems can complete the manufacturing and delivery of an entire boiler system within a year. Gas turbines, by comparison, often require several years of waiting, making the boiler-steam option far more attractive to AI data centers in urgent need of additional electricity.

For these facilities, the energy challenge is shifting from whether natural gas is available to how quickly it can be converted into power. With turbine supply lagging, boiler-plus-steam systems essentially trade some generation efficiency for far shorter deployment timelines.

Natural gas is a stopgap; nuclear is the long-term answer

Looking further ahead, natural gas generation is not the final solution for hyperscale cloud providers. For major tech firms like Google, the ultimate goal remains meeting rising data center power needs through renewable sources and nuclear energy, with natural gas playing only a transitional role in closing the immediate gap.

Nuclear power has become a key avenue for tech giants seeking long-term clean electricity. Google has signed a 22-year nuclear power supply agreement with Finland's Fortum to secure stable, low-carbon energy over the coming decades.

Thus, as AI data center power demand surges and gas turbine supply stays constrained, the industry is forging a layered path forward: existing nuclear and newly built gas plants handle near-term needs, boiler-plus-steam systems serve as an emergency fix for the turbine shortage, and over the longer horizon, nuclear and renewable sources remain the primary direction for data center energy transition.