{"slug": "ai-data-centers-turn-to-industrial-boilers-and-steam-turbines-as-gas-turbine", "title": "AI data centers turn to industrial boilers and steam turbines as gas turbine backlogs grow", "summary": "Babcock & Wilcox signed a $2.4 billion design-build agreement to deliver 1.2 GW of natural gas-fired boiler-steam capacity for Applied Digital's AI campuses, as multi-year backlogs for large-frame gas turbines push data center operators toward industrial boilers paired with steam turbines. Siemens Energy agreed to supply 20 steam turbine-generator sets rated at 50 MW each, totaling 1 GW, under an arrangement with an August 2026 notice-to-proceed timeline, while B&W's 1 GW initiative for Applied Digital targets operation by 2028 with a March 2026 notice to proceed. Applied Digital's Ellendale, North Dakota site had reached 50 MW of online capacity by late 2025, and industry projections suggest AI-scale facilities could demand tens of gigawatts of new capacity by 2030.", "body_md": "# AI data centers turn to industrial boilers and steam turbines as gas turbine backlogs grow\n\nBabcock & Wilcox lands a $2.4 billion deal to build boiler-steam plants for Applied Digital as AI power demand outpaces conventional supply chains.\n\nGas turbines, the traditional workhorses for new power generation, now carry multi-year backlogs. Data center operators are turning to industrial boilers paired with steam turbines as an alternative. Babcock & Wilcox, a 157-year-old company, has signed a $2.4 billion design-build agreement to deliver 1.2 GW of natural gas-fired boiler-steam capacity for Applied Digital’s AI campuses. B&W says it can deliver packaged boiler units in about one year, a fraction of the wait time for large-frame gas turbines.\n\n## Why boilers are suddenly cool again\n\nAI-scale data centers are placing orders for hundreds of megawatts to gigawatt-scale gas turbines, and those orders now represent around 20% of some manufacturers’ entire gas power backlog. Natural gas-fired boilers coupled with steam turbines offer a workaround. B&W claims these packaged systems can match the peak-hour efficiency of some gas turbines.\n\nSiemens Energy agreed to supply 20 steam turbine-generator sets, each rated at 50 MW, totaling 1 GW of capacity as part of its arrangement with B&W. That agreement carries an August 2026 notice-to-proceed timeline.\n\n## Applied Digital’s North Dakota bet\n\nApplied Digital’s site in Ellendale, North Dakota, had already achieved 50 MW of online capacity by late 2025. B&W’s 1 GW capacity initiative for Applied Digital is focused on natural gas-fired plants expected to be operational by 2028, with a notice to proceed in March 2026.\n\nIndustry projections suggest AI-scale facilities could demand tens of gigawatts of new capacity by 2030. A single gigawatt is roughly the output of a large nuclear plant.\n\n## Energy markets feel the pull\n\nNatural gas is emerging as the default fuel for AI infrastructure because it offers dispatchable, round-the-clock power that can be sited near the data center itself. As hyperscalers and AI labs secure their own on-site generation, they are effectively bypassing the utility grid for baseload power, taking on the operational complexity of running their own power plants.\n\n**Disclosure:** This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our\n\n[Editorial Policy](https://cryptobriefing.com/editorial-policy/).", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-data-centers-turn-to-industrial-boilers-and-steam-turbines-as-gas-turbine", "canonical_source": "https://cryptobriefing.com/ai-data-centers-boilers-steam-turbines-power/", "published_at": "2026-09-10 13:14:11+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-10 13:38:58.128074+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-infrastructure"], "entities": ["Babcock & Wilcox", "Applied Digital", "Siemens Energy", "Ellendale, North Dakota"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-data-centers-turn-to-industrial-boilers-and-steam-turbines-as-gas-turbine", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-data-centers-turn-to-industrial-boilers-and-steam-turbines-as-gas-turbine.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-data-centers-turn-to-industrial-boilers-and-steam-turbines-as-gas-turbine.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-data-centers-turn-to-industrial-boilers-and-steam-turbines-as-gas-turbine.jsonld"}}