Energy startup Arbor Energy has announced the sale of up to 5 gigawatts of its innovative modular turbines to GridMarket, a company that facilitates power projects for data centres and industrial clients. Co-founder and CEO Brad Hartwig emphasised the pressing demand for power, stating that customers want it immediately as project timelines shorten and scales increase.
Arbor’s Halcyon turbines leverage cutting-edge rocket turbomachinery technology originally designed for space applications. The company’s initial turbines will be 3D printed, each capable of generating 25 megawatts, and GridMarket’s order could amount to as many as 200 units. While the specific financial details of the deal are undisclosed, Hartwig indicated the market is willing to pay over $100 per megawatt-hour, with estimates suggesting the total deal value might reach the single-digit billion dollar range.
The startup aims to connect its first turbine to the grid by 2028, with plans to increase production through 2030, ultimately targeting an output of over 100 turbines annually and striving to achieve a capacity increase of 10 gigawatts each year.
Initially designed to run on organic materials such as crop waste and timber scraps—converting these into syngas—Arbor’s turbines would generate carbon negative power. This process captures pure CO2, which can be sequestered underground, effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, the design has evolved to allow for the use of natural gas as well, although this configuration would not achieve the same carbon-negative status due to methane emissions associated with natural gas supply chains.
Hartwig projected that the eventual output from Halcyon turbines could result in emissions as low as 10 grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour, substantially lower than the approximately 400 grams emitted from conventional natural gas plants lacking carbon capture.
Despite diversifying the fuel sources, Arbor remains committed to its biomass initiatives, although current biomass-related contracts are smaller than the GridMarket deal. Arbor’s success is bolstered by an escalating demand for energy driven by the data centre boom. Traditional turbine manufacturers have been slow to adapt to this surge in demand, facing challenges in scaling production, especially due to bottlenecks affecting the supply of specialised parts such as blades.
Arbor is poised to capitalise on this opportunity through its advanced manufacturing capabilities, including the use of machined and 3D-printed components, allowing for quicker market entry. Hartwig reiterated the urgency of the energy demand, affirming that both volume and speed are key to meeting market needs.
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