American Supercritical raises $8 million for data-center turbine retrofit plan

American Supercritical emerged from stealth with $8 million in funding and a plan to sell equipment that extracts more electricity from gas turbines used to power data centers. Its proposed unit would circulate pressurized carbon dioxide through a closed loop, using turbine exhaust heat to generate power without burning additional gas. The company plans an initial 10-megawatt unit. The company estimates its approach could raise turbine efficiency by up to 50 percent without additional greenhouse gas emissions or water use from the added unit. That estimate has not been shown as a commercial result. Existing gas turbines would still burn fuel and emit carbon pollution, and an engineering researcher cited cost, technical challenges and supply chains as obstacles.