Elon Musk Says SpaceX Can Accelerate Natural Gas Turbines by 18 Months: 'Profound Game-Changer' for AI Power

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Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk says fossil fuels are necessary to act as a bridge to close the gap between solar energy at its current levels and where it could be in the future.

Turbine Blades and Vanes Are the Limiting Factor

Responding to influencer Alexandra Merz, who shared a link to an article that said SpaceX was laying the groundwork for manufacturing turbines that will help address data center power needs. “SpaceX and Tesla are each building 100GW/year of solar production capacity as fast as possible,” Musk said on X on Sunday.

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However, the billionaire acknowledged that “natural gas will still be needed to supplement and bootstrap solar for several years.” Musk then shared that the “limiting factor” for the natural gas turbine production was “casting the blades & vanes.”

He then said that “in-house casting at SpaceX” would “accelerate” natural gas turbines “coming online by up to 18 months, which is a profound game-changer.”

SpaceX and Tesla are each building 100GW/year of solar production capacity as fast as possible, but natural gas will still be needed to supplement and bootstrap solar for several years.

The limiting factor for nat gas turbine production is casting the blades & vanes. By doing…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 29, 2026

Elon Musk’s Clean Energy Push

The CEO also outlined that transitioning to sustainable and clean energy sources may not be enough to grapple with the climate crisis.

He touted orbital geo-engineering, including satellites that could control the weather by adjusting the amount of solar energy reaching the Earth. Musk also reaffirmed that solar energy could push the economy away from currency and towards energy and mass.

On the other hand, Tesla reportedly pulled the plug and discontinued its Solar Roof tiles. The company said it will instead supply conventional solar panels. The solar roof was Tesla’s building-integrated solar power solution that aimed to replace traditional roofing tiles.

Photo courtesy: Frederic Legrand – COMEO on Shutterstock

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Elon Musk Says SpaceX Can Accelerate Natural Gas Turbines by 18 Months: ‘Profound Game-Changer’ for AI Power

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