Combined cycle power generation

Combined cycle power generation pairs a gas turbine with a steam turbine so the plant gets two passes at generating electricity from the same fuel: the gas turbine burns natural gas to spin a generator directly, and the hot exhaust that would otherwise be wasted gets routed through a heat recovery system to make steam that spins a second turbine. That extra step makes combined cycle plants significantly more efficient than a simple gas turbine or reciprocating engine running alone, which is why utility-scale plants favor it.

Smaller or faster-to-build projects, including the modular power builds serving new data centers, often start with reciprocating gas engines instead, since those engines can be sized and deployed more quickly in smaller increments before a site grows large enough to justify the added complexity of a full combined cycle plant.