A severe turbine component bottleneck is slowing new power projects, while SpaceX sees an opportunity to reshape how AI infrastructure gets its electricity.
Elon Musk announced that SpaceX is building its own foundry in Bastrop, Texas. It is expected to produce blades and vanes for gas turbines – components whose shortage is slowing the rollout of new power plants for artificial intelligence data centers.
As noted by Techcrunch
The project is being developed next to the existing Starlink factory in Bastrop. Between March and June, SpaceX acquired roughly 830 acres of land near the facility. The company’s job postings also mentioned foundry production of gas turbine components.
SpaceX and Tesla are building solar power manufacturing capacity of 100 GW per year each as quickly as possible, but natural gas will still be needed for several years to supplement solar generation and bring new capacity online. The bottleneck in gas turbine production is the casting of blades and vanes. In-house casting at SpaceX could accelerate the deployment of gas turbines by up to 18 months, and that could be a game changer.
– Elon Musk
Securing electricity has become one of the key challenges for the artificial intelligence sector, alongside the shortage of graphics processing units. According to the International Energy Agency, global electricity consumption by data centers could roughly double by 2030.
Demand from AI infrastructure has already affected manufacturers of energy equipment. GE Vernova, which produces turbines, has effectively sold out its production capacity through 2030.
Why Manufacturing Gas Turbine Blades Is Difficult
Blades operate in the hottest part of a gas turbine, where temperatures reach approximately 1,649–1,982 degrees Celsius. This is roughly 444 degrees above the melting point of the alloy used to make these components.
The blades’ ability to withstand extreme heat is ensured by a complex internal cooling system, a thermal barrier coating, and highly precise casting. Each component must be formed as a single crystal in a vacuum furnace. Microscopic boundaries in the metal structure can cause cracks while the turbine is operating.
Only four companies worldwide have mastered the industrial production of such blades, and their capacity is already fully booked. Components for power plants are larger than comparable aircraft engine parts, making quality control and defect prevention during casting even more difficult.
Gas Power Plants and Environmental Risks
An in-house foundry could strengthen SpaceX’s position in supplying gas turbines to major data centers. At the same time, the rapid expansion of gas-fired generation raises concerns about the impact of such facilities on the environment and human health.
In Memphis, gas turbines have been supplying power to Colossus data centers since 2024. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has repeatedly accused the company of operating equipment without the required permits and pollution-control systems.
Gas turbines can emit substances that contribute to smog formation, as well as hazardous compounds, including formaldehyde. It has been linked to asthma, respiratory illnesses, and certain types of cancer.
Similar disputes are taking place in other regions of the United States. A study for the Piedmont Environmental Council in Virginia found that emissions from eight gas turbines operating continuously at a single site could adversely affect the health of residents in several counties. As a result, the push to rapidly expand power capacity for artificial intelligence is increasingly colliding with the environmental consequences of using natural gas.