Reports this year describe gas turbine makers as so backed up with orders that it's threatening to delay the entire AI data-centre building boom. The backlog part checks out completely. The dramatic framing gets ahead of what's actually been documented.

The real backlog: GE Vernova's order book alone hit roughly 100 gigawatts in early 2026, about five years' worth of production at its current output rate. Order slots are largely gone through 2028, with only a small amount of capacity left as far out as 2030. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets confirm the industry has roughly 100GW ordered against 60-70GW of yearly manufacturing capacity, with new orders now carrying a 10-20% price premium.

Where the story overreaches: GE Vernova itself has pushed back on claims that turbine supply is "gating" data-centre construction. Independent analysis found only one well-documented case of a project actually changing plans because of turbine delays, Oracle's Stargate site in New Mexico, which withdrew its turbine permit applications and switched to fuel cells instead.

The bottom line: the turbine backlog is real, severe, and squarely a gas/diesel-adjacent story worth watching, data centres need reliable, always-on power, and gas is the fallback everyone's ordering years in advance to secure. But "derailing the AI boom" is, so far, one confirmed case dressed up as an industry-wide crisis.