Elon Musk says SpaceX will cast gas turbine parts to speed data power

In short: Elon Musk says SpaceX is building a factory in Texas to make hard-to-produce gas turbine parts, which he says could bring power online up to 18 months sooner, but critics warn about pollution.

What happened

Elon Musk said a previously secret SpaceX foundry, or metal-working factory, in Bastrop, Texas, will be used to cast turbine blades and vanes. These are key parts inside natural gas turbines, which are machines that burn gas to generate electricity.

Musk wrote on X that making these parts in house could speed up how quickly new gas turbines can be built and installed. He claimed it could bring gas power online up to 18 months faster than typical timelines.

The reason is that turbine blades are extremely difficult to manufacture. According to reporting cited by TechCrunch, the blades operate in the hottest part of a turbine, and they must be cast with very precise methods, including forming each blade as a single crystal (like growing one solid piece of rock, instead of many pieces fused together).

Why it matters

AI data centers need a lot of electricity, and more of them are being built. When the local power grid cannot supply enough power quickly, companies often install gas turbines near the data center as a faster fix. The concern is that more turbines can also mean more local air pollution, and TechCrunch notes lawsuits and health studies in places where such turbines have been used, including Memphis and parts of Virginia.

Source: TechCrunch AI