Arbor Energy Wins $1B Rocket Turbine Grid Contract

A major new contract signals a pivotal shift in how the power industry is meeting surging demand. Energy startup Arbor Energy has secured a deal to supply up to 5 gigawatts of its innovative modular turbines to GridMarket, a firm that orchestrates power projects for data centers and industrial clients. The agreement, valued in the single-digit billions of dollars, underscores the intense pressure on the grid as digital infrastructure expands rapidly.

Arbor’s Halcyon turbines utilize rocket turbomachinery, a high-performance technology adapted from aerospace engineering. Each unit is designed to generate 25 megawatts, and the initial commercial models will be produced via 3D printing. The full GridMarket order would require 200 of these units. Arbor’s CEO, Brad Hartwig, noted a clear market signal, stating there is a “willingness to pay of upwards of $100 per megawatt-hour” for reliable capacity. The company aims to connect its first turbine to the grid by 2028, scaling production to deliver over 100 units annually by 2030, with an ultimate goal of manufacturing enough turbines for 10 gigawatts of new capacity each year.

The original design for the Halcyon system was focused on carbon negative power. It was engineered to process biomass, such as agricultural waste and wood scraps, converting it into syngas to be burned in pure oxygen. This process yields a pure stream of carbon dioxide that can be captured and stored underground. Since the organic feedstock would otherwise decompose and release greenhouse gases, the net effect is carbon removal.

However, to accelerate deployment and broaden applicability, Arbor has modified the turbine to also run on natural gas, transforming it into a more flexible system. While this configuration is not carbon negative, the core carbon capture and sequestration process remains functional. Hartwig acknowledged that using natural gas introduces emissions from potential methane leaks in the supply chain, but emphasized the company is partnering with low-leak suppliers. He argued that sequestering the resulting CO2 still offers a substantial environmental and economic benefit, projecting a path to “less than 10 grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour,” a fraction of the emissions from a standard gas plant.

The data center boom has been a primary catalyst for this deal, exposing a critical shortage in traditional power equipment. Manufacturers of conventional gas turbines have been hesitant to ramp up production due to past market volatility and complex supply chains. Hartwig explained that key components like turbine blades require artisanal, specialized labor, creating a major bottleneck. “If you were to get in line for a turbine today, you’d be waiting until 2032,” he said. Arbor’s strategy leverages machined and 3D printed parts to bypass these constraints and deliver power solutions on a much faster timeline, directly addressing what Hartwig describes as a market that wants “power in the next few years and they want a lot of it.”

While the GridMarket agreement is not restricted to one fuel source, it represents a massive scale-up for Arbor. The company continues to pursue smaller biomass-powered projects, but this landmark contract highlights the immediate industry drive for scalable, deployable generation, with advanced carbon management as a key feature.