A Startup Wants to Power Data Centers With ‘Supercritical’ Carbon Dioxide

Data center operators can now improve existing power generation efficiency by up to 50% without increasing emissions or water use.

American Supercritical, a new startup, announced $8 million in funding to retrofit existing inefficient gas turbines in data centers. Their technology uses "supercritical" carbon dioxide to capture and convert exhaust heat into additional electricity, theoretically increasing turbine efficiency by up to 50% without additional emissions. This system aims to improve the efficiency of simple-cycle gas turbines, which are commonly used in data centers and are significantly less efficient than combined-cycle plants. The CO2 operates in a closed-loop system, reducing water usage. The company plans to initially offer a 10-megawatt unit and sees a large market opportunity as data center power demand and investment, particularly for AI infrastructure, continues to grow. The technology has been studied for decades, with recent advances in heat exchangers making practical application more feasible.

The startup's approach addresses the "innovator's dilemma" by offering a retrofit solution for data centers that are bottlenecked by power capacity, particularly as they race to support AI workloads. By enhancing the efficiency of current gas turbines, American Supercritical enables data centers to potentially expand operations or phase out less efficient generators without building entirely new power infrastructure. This retrofitting strategy could be a more accessible path to increased power generation compared to deploying entirely new, specialized power plants.

The commercialization of supercritical CO2 technology for data center power generation signals a growing trend toward advanced thermodynamic cycles to meet escalating energy demands. While companies like American Supercritical face supply chain and cost hurdles, their progress, alongside similar efforts in geothermal and potentially nuclear applications, indicates a broader market readiness for innovative power solutions. The success of these ventures will likely influence future investments in distributed power generation for industrial and high-demand facilities.