China Seeks Overseas Gas Turbine Sales Amid AI Power Boom

JP Morgan said new turbine orders totalled 38 gigawatts (GW) in the second quarter, up 29% from the first quarter and 71% from a year earlier. The United States accounted for half of the orders, as data center growth drives demand for electricity, the bank said.

New generating capacity is needed to support artificial intelligence and the onshoring of manufacturing. But manufacturers do not keep gas turbines in inventory, contributing to shortages and waits that can exceed five years.

Those delays are “both an opportunity and a challenge” for China’s gas turbine industry, Wang Yunbo, deputy director of the market regulation department at the National Energy Administration, told the People’s Daily, according to Bloomberg.

Chinese manufacturers have begun securing overseas deals. Last month, Dongfang Electric Corporation agreed to provide 30 gas turbines to Canadian data center developer Eco DC Solutions, supporting more than 2.1 GW of capacity. Earlier this year, Shanghai Electric Group Co., Ltd won a turnkey contract to supply equipment, including gas turbines, for the Samalaju Combined Cycle Power Plant in Sarawak, Malaysia.