Baker Hughes to Supply Kodiak Up to 1.8 GW of Gas Turbines for U.S. Data Center Power
- AI Energy Demand Data Centers News
Marin Holt
- 0
- 6 minutes read
- Initial order: ~1 gigawatt, delivered by 2030
- Framework total: up to 1.8 GW
- Equipment: NovaLT16 & Frame 5 gas turbines, BRUSH generators
- Deployment: Behind-the-meter at U.S. data centers
- Announced: July 8, 2026
Baker Hughes will supply Kodiak Gas Services with up to 1.8 gigawatts of gas turbines and generators for behind-the-meter power at U.S. data centers, the two companies said on July 8, 2026. The multi-year agreement is anchored by an initial order of about 1 gigawatt of generating capacity that Baker Hughes will deliver by 2030.
The initial award covers NovaLT16 gas turbines, Frame 5 gas turbines and BRUSH generators. Kodiak Gas Services, a Texas-based contract-compression and distributed-power provider, will install and operate the units on-site at data center campuses, feeding electricity directly to the computing load instead of routing it through regional transmission networks.
Why Behind-the-Meter
Data center developers face interconnection queues that stretch for years in constrained markets, and grid operators from PJM to ERCOT have warned that new large loads are arriving faster than transmission upgrades. On-site gas generation sidesteps that wait: a developer that owns its own turbines brings capacity online without a queue position or a transmission cost allocation. Kodiak chief executive Mickey McKee said customers “require dependable, efficient and rapidly deployable power,” and Baker Hughes chief executive Lorenzo Simonelli tied the deal to helping customers “bring new capacity online faster.”
The order adds to a widening pipeline of gas-fired generation aimed at computing loads. Baker Hughes rival GE Vernova has reported a swelling gas turbine backlog driven by data center demand, and operators including xAI have already run on-site turbines to power AI clusters ahead of grid connection. A growing share of planned U.S. data center capacity now expects to lean on behind-the-meter power, most of it natural gas.
Critical Perspective
Baker Hughes will not deliver even the first 1 GW of the up to 1.8 GW order until 2030, four years out, which sits oddly beside Kodiak’s pitch that data centers need rapidly deployable power. Heavy-frame turbines are in short supply, and rival GE Vernova has already booked its gas-turbine slots years into the future, so behind-the-meter does not automatically mean fast. When xAI rushed roughly 35 on-site turbines into service near Memphis to power its Colossus cluster, it drew Clean Air Act complaints that show the speed premium can convert into permitting and legal exposure instead. If the equipment itself arrives on a 2030 timeline, is on-site gas really the queue-jump it is sold as, or just a different four-year wait?
Why It Matters
On-site gas turbines let hyperscale operators dodge the interconnection queue, but they also move new fossil generation outside the reach of state resource planning and, in permitting disputes such as the fight over xAI’s Memphis units, outside routine air-quality review. Each gigawatt of behind-the-meter gas is a gigawatt that regional planners no longer count in their capacity forecasts, complicating reliability math that already assumes record data center growth. For turbine makers, the Kodiak order confirms that distributed-power contractors, not just utilities, are now buying heavy iron by the gigawatt.
Sources
- Baker Hughes: Kodiak Gas Services, Baker Hughes Announce Multi-Year Gas Turbine Order Agreement (July 8, 2026)
- GlobeNewswire / Kodiak Gas Services press release (July 8, 2026)
- StockTitan: Baker Hughes to supply turbines for up to 1.8 GW of data-center power
- Benzinga: Kodiak Gas Powers Multi-Year Turbine Push with Baker Hughes
- Energy Digital: Baker Hughes & Kodiak’s Multi-Year, 1.8 GW Gas Turbine Deal
