Babcock & Wilcox has secured an additional 1 GW of steam turbines from Siemens Energy as the company prepares for its next power project serving the growing artificial intelligence data center market.
B&W announced the equipment order Aug. 10 with its second-quarter 2026 results. The company said the turbines are expected to be delivered within 12 to 15 months.
Ordering the equipment early could allow B&W to move faster once its next data center power project is ready for construction.
“We continue active discussions on other AI data center opportunities and have placed additional orders with Siemens Energy to secure and deliver an additional 1 gigawatt of steam turbines in the next 12 to 15 months to secure speed to markets,” B&W Chairman and CEO Kenneth Young said.
The announcement comes as data center developers look for ways to secure large amounts of reliable electricity. The rapid growth of AI has increased demand for new power generation, particularly in areas where the existing electric grid cannot add capacity fast enough to keep up with new development.
B&W advances $2.4B Base Electron project
The new turbine order builds on B&W’s work with Siemens Energy on a $2.4 billion power project for Base Electron, an independent power producer working with Applied Digital.
B&W received a full notice to proceed on the project in March. The development is expected to provide 1.2 GW of power for Applied Digital AI data center campuses.
The project includes four 300-MW natural gas-fired boilers along with Siemens Energy steam turbine generators and other equipment needed to produce electricity.
B&W said the project is ahead of expectations and remains on budget. Manufacturing of the boilers, turbines and other equipment is underway, and the project has entered the permitting process.
The company is using natural gas-fired boilers to produce steam, which will power the Siemens Energy turbines and generate electricity for the data centers.
B&W is positioning the system as a way for data center developers to add large amounts of power on an accelerated schedule.
Base Electron has also been considering an option for an additional 1.2 GW of power generation capacity.
Data center growth could create opportunities for contractors
The growth of AI data centers could create a significant new market for industrial contractors and skilled craft workers.
Large data center campuses need more than servers and buildings. They can also require power plants, substations, natural gas infrastructure, electrical systems, water systems, roads and other supporting facilities.
That creates opportunities for many of the same companies that build and maintain refineries, chemical plants and traditional power plants.
Work could include site preparation, foundations, structural steel, piping, electrical systems, equipment installation, testing and startup. Projects can also require crane services, fabrication, maintenance and other specialized industrial services.
Demand for skilled labor could grow along with the projects. B&W said rising electricity demand is increasing its need for engineers, project development employees, welders and electricians.
The company has its own construction and installation operations, but the size of the planned projects could create opportunities across the broader contractor and supplier market.
B&W said its global pipeline of potential projects now exceeds $14 billion. Its backlog, representing awarded work that has not yet been completed, reached $2.6 billion in the second quarter, up 533% from a year earlier.
For industrial contractors, the growing data center market is increasingly becoming a power generation story.
AI campuses require large amounts of dependable electricity around the clock. In some cases, developers are pursuing dedicated power plants rather than waiting for utilities to build enough new grid capacity.
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That trend could open another market for contractors with experience building and maintaining power plants and other large industrial facilities.
B&W’s decision to secure another 1 GW of Siemens Energy turbines before announcing its next project is another sign that the company expects demand for dedicated data center power to continue growing.
