Aircraft Boneyards Hold Potential for 320 GW of Power, Nearing US Grid Capacity

A recent social media post by Ryan McEntush has highlighted the staggering, often overlooked, power generation potential residing within aircraft boneyards. McEntush's analysis suggests that the thousands of retired jet engines stored in these facilities could collectively generate an immense amount of electricity, rivaling a significant portion of the United States' current grid capacity.

"there’s around 4k aircraft and another 6k engines at the boneyard. if we assume an average of 2.5 engines per plane at 20 MW, then we’re looking at around 320 GW of power capacity. for context, as of writing this, the entire US grid is using 400 GW. wild," McEntush stated in his tweet. This calculation projects a theoretical capacity of 320 gigawatts (GW) from approximately 6,000 engines, each estimated at 20 megawatts (MW).

This concept is not merely theoretical; industries are increasingly repurposing these powerful aviation engines for ground-based electricity generation. The burgeoning demand for power, particularly from rapidly expanding data centers fueled by artificial intelligence (AI), has led operators to seek alternative energy solutions amidst grid delays and shortages of new industrial gas turbines.

Companies like ProEnergy and Mitsubishi Power are at the forefront, transforming retired commercial aircraft engines into "aeroderivative gas turbines." These modular units, such as ProEnergy's PE6000 which utilizes GE's CF6-80C2 engine cores, can deliver up to 48 MW of electricity each. OpenAI's parent group, for instance, is deploying LM2500XPRESS units, capable of 34 MW output, for its multi-billion-dollar Stargate project in Texas.

The repurposing of these engines serves as a crucial "bridging power" solution, offering a faster deployment alternative compared to the multi-year lead times for traditional grid connections or new turbine orders. Aircraft boneyards, typically located in arid climates to minimize corrosion, serve as storage sites for retired aircraft, where valuable components, including engines, are often salvaged for reuse or resale, providing a ready supply for this emerging power sector.