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thewayne*SIGH*
I'll let the Slashdot summary do the initial speaking for me:
A global shortage of jet engines is threatening the rapid expansion of AI data centers, as hyperscalers like OpenAI and Amazon scramble to secure aeroderivative turbines to power their energy-hungry AI clusters. With wait times stretching into the 2030s and emissions rising, the AI boom is literally running on jet fuel. Tom's Hardware reports: Interviews and market research indicate that manufacturers are quoting years-long lead times for turbine orders. Many of those placed today are being slotted for 2028-30, and customers are increasingly entering reservation agreements or putting down substantial deposits to hold future manufacturing capacity. "I would expect by the end of the summer, we will be largely sold out through the end of '28 with this equipment," said Scott Strazik, CEO of turbine maker GE Vernova, in an interview with Bloomberg back in March.
General Electric's LM6000 and LM2500 series -- both derived from the CF6 jet engine family -- have quickly become the default choice for AI developers looking to spin up serious power in a hurry. OpenAI's infrastructure partner, Crusoe Energy, recently ordered 29 LM2500XPRESS units to supply roughly one gigawatt of temporary generation for Stargate, effectively creating a mobile jet-fueled grid inside a West Texas field. Meanwhile, ProEnergy, which retrofits used CF6-80C2 engines into trailer-mounted 48-megawatt units, confirmed that it has delivered more than 1 gigawatt of its PE6000 systems to just two data center clients. These engines, which were once strapped to Boeing 767s, now spend their lives keeping inference moving.
Siemens Energy said this year that more than 60% of its US gas turbine orders are now linked to AI data centers. In some states, like Ohio and Georgia, regulators are approving multi-gigawatt gas buildouts tied directly to hyperscale footprints. That includes full pipeline builds and multi-phase interconnects designed around private-generation campuses. But the surge in orders has collided with the cold reality of turbine manufacturing timelines. GE Vernova is currently quoting 2028 or later for new industrial units, while Mitsubishi warns new turbine blocks ordered now may not ship until the 2030s. One developer reportedly paid $25 million just to reserve a future delivery slot.
Now, in some cases the jet engine is in place as a power backup in case main grid power fails. But in many cases, such as Leon Muskbrat's xAI data centers, he's running them full-time while he's waiting for generating stations to be built! And yes, the locals are not happy because he's installing more turbines than he's permitted for. And, of course, the local town councils are doing squat to enforce permits because JOBS!
One interesting Slashdot commenter said "Yes during the dotcom bubble the company my dad worked for made HVAC and UPS equipment for data centers, and they declined the opportunity to build out bigger capacity to meet orders instead of just letting the queue grow longer because their management figured it was a bubble. So, they survived the pop because instead of having unused factories, they just had some cancelled orders. The turbine manufacturers probably feel the same or just don't feel like trying to build factories during a trade war anyhow."
The big question, of course, is how much will this cause problems with the production of jet aircraft? These jet engine generators take engines made for... wait for it... jets. The Boeing 767 is specifically mentioned, that plane is currently in production, and engines are needed for newly-made aircraft and also to service the fleet that is now flying. In the world of 'money talks, BS walks' I suspect that the vulture capitalists backing AI may be able to throw more cash towards data centers, pulling more orders for engines than the airlines can. Could this disrupt global air travel? Will the engine makers, such as GE, be stupid enough to build more capacity and when the AI bubble bursts, be on the hook for billions of dollars that suddenly is no longer needed?
Now, there's one other point that I don't get. There are thousands and thousands of jet engines on the used markets available right now. Okay, maybe they're not quite as powerful as something that's strapped onto a 767. So maybe you need two or three or four to make that much power. But they're available right now. SO WHY AREN'T YOU GOBBLING UP THE USED MARKET?
Article behind a paywall:
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/turbine-shortage-threatens-ai-datacenters-as-wait-times-stretch-into-2030
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/10/28/0151205/jet-engine-shortages-threaten-ai-data-center-expansion-as-wait-times-stretch-into-2030
I'll let the Slashdot summary do the initial speaking for me:
A global shortage of jet engines is threatening the rapid expansion of AI data centers, as hyperscalers like OpenAI and Amazon scramble to secure aeroderivative turbines to power their energy-hungry AI clusters. With wait times stretching into the 2030s and emissions rising, the AI boom is literally running on jet fuel. Tom's Hardware reports: Interviews and market research indicate that manufacturers are quoting years-long lead times for turbine orders. Many of those placed today are being slotted for 2028-30, and customers are increasingly entering reservation agreements or putting down substantial deposits to hold future manufacturing capacity. "I would expect by the end of the summer, we will be largely sold out through the end of '28 with this equipment," said Scott Strazik, CEO of turbine maker GE Vernova, in an interview with Bloomberg back in March.
General Electric's LM6000 and LM2500 series -- both derived from the CF6 jet engine family -- have quickly become the default choice for AI developers looking to spin up serious power in a hurry. OpenAI's infrastructure partner, Crusoe Energy, recently ordered 29 LM2500XPRESS units to supply roughly one gigawatt of temporary generation for Stargate, effectively creating a mobile jet-fueled grid inside a West Texas field. Meanwhile, ProEnergy, which retrofits used CF6-80C2 engines into trailer-mounted 48-megawatt units, confirmed that it has delivered more than 1 gigawatt of its PE6000 systems to just two data center clients. These engines, which were once strapped to Boeing 767s, now spend their lives keeping inference moving.
Siemens Energy said this year that more than 60% of its US gas turbine orders are now linked to AI data centers. In some states, like Ohio and Georgia, regulators are approving multi-gigawatt gas buildouts tied directly to hyperscale footprints. That includes full pipeline builds and multi-phase interconnects designed around private-generation campuses. But the surge in orders has collided with the cold reality of turbine manufacturing timelines. GE Vernova is currently quoting 2028 or later for new industrial units, while Mitsubishi warns new turbine blocks ordered now may not ship until the 2030s. One developer reportedly paid $25 million just to reserve a future delivery slot.
Now, in some cases the jet engine is in place as a power backup in case main grid power fails. But in many cases, such as Leon Muskbrat's xAI data centers, he's running them full-time while he's waiting for generating stations to be built! And yes, the locals are not happy because he's installing more turbines than he's permitted for. And, of course, the local town councils are doing squat to enforce permits because JOBS!
One interesting Slashdot commenter said "Yes during the dotcom bubble the company my dad worked for made HVAC and UPS equipment for data centers, and they declined the opportunity to build out bigger capacity to meet orders instead of just letting the queue grow longer because their management figured it was a bubble. So, they survived the pop because instead of having unused factories, they just had some cancelled orders. The turbine manufacturers probably feel the same or just don't feel like trying to build factories during a trade war anyhow."
The big question, of course, is how much will this cause problems with the production of jet aircraft? These jet engine generators take engines made for... wait for it... jets. The Boeing 767 is specifically mentioned, that plane is currently in production, and engines are needed for newly-made aircraft and also to service the fleet that is now flying. In the world of 'money talks, BS walks' I suspect that the vulture capitalists backing AI may be able to throw more cash towards data centers, pulling more orders for engines than the airlines can. Could this disrupt global air travel? Will the engine makers, such as GE, be stupid enough to build more capacity and when the AI bubble bursts, be on the hook for billions of dollars that suddenly is no longer needed?
Now, there's one other point that I don't get. There are thousands and thousands of jet engines on the used markets available right now. Okay, maybe they're not quite as powerful as something that's strapped onto a 767. So maybe you need two or three or four to make that much power. But they're available right now. SO WHY AREN'T YOU GOBBLING UP THE USED MARKET?
Article behind a paywall:
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/turbine-shortage-threatens-ai-datacenters-as-wait-times-stretch-into-2030
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/10/28/0151205/jet-engine-shortages-threaten-ai-data-center-expansion-as-wait-times-stretch-into-2030
no subject
Date: 2025-10-30 12:03 pm (UTC)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadcap
If the coffee maker repeatedly flies in cold air at high altitudes, lands on a runway in a hot, humid environment, and takes off again, condensation will form on the circuit board. Then the heat of the coffee maker will soften any flux residue, and ions will enter the condensate. The voltage differences in the circuits will cause ions to migrate in the liquid to line up between high and low voltage. After many, many landings and takeoffs, with the coffee maker powered on while condensate is on the board, a little trail of ions will connect a power circuit to a ground circuit. This causes a high impedance short. Electricity flows, the high resistance causes lots of heat, and the coffee maker catches on fire. If the coffee maker is in a metal tube full of fuel, flammable hydraulic fluid, and things that go boom, this may be considered stressful.
In addition to washing the circuit boards in the coffee maker, we sometimes are instructed to spray, dip, or vapour-deposit water-repellent coatings onto the circuit boards. This is a messy and labour-intensive process, but provides extra protection.
no subject
Date: 2025-10-30 12:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-10-30 03:14 pm (UTC)A mildly extreme working environment. :-)
no subject
Date: 2025-10-30 03:14 pm (UTC)Very cool! I was aware of some of that, but not all and I always love hearing from subject matter experts. Which reminds me of a joke. An F-16 is flying escort for a C-5 Galaxy transporting some important stuff. Both pilots are bored and are chatting on the radio. The Falcon pilot decides to get showy and a few high-speed rolls around the Galaxy and over the radio says 'Your plane can't do that!' The Galaxy pilot says, 'Oh, yeah! Well, your plane can't do this!' The radio goes silent, the Galaxy continues slowly eating the miles. Ten minutes later the Galaxy pilot comes back on the radio and says to the Falcon pilots 'Well, how did you like that?!' Falcon pilot: 'Nothing happened!' 'Oh, no? I walked back to the galley, made a sandwich and ate it, had a nice cup of coffee, chatted with the load master, then went to the bathroom. Can you do that?'