Capstone, a US maker of microturbines, has secured an order for its C1000 Power Package product for an Australian data center provider whose name was not disclosed.

The microturbine will provide all power to the 1MW 19,700-sq-ft data center in Melbourne, Capstone said in a news release. The turbine is fueled by natural gas. The sale was secured by one of Capstone distributors Aquatec-Maxcon.

According to Jim Crouse, Capstone's executive VP of sales and marketing, the turbine will help the data center reduce carbon emissions. "Energy consumption in data centers can be an astounding 30 percent higher than commercial buildings, which means they also emit higher levels of greenhouse gases," he said in a statement. "Capstone microturbines provide highly reliable, clean power that's ideal for data centers around the world."

Los Angeles-based Capstone claims it was the first company to market "commercially viable" microturbine products. The company says it has to date shipped more than 5,000 microturbine systems worldwide.

While on-site generation ÔÇô also referred to as co-generation ÔÇô has not yet gained much traction in the data center world, it is generally considered a more sustainable solution than using grid power, especially power that comes from coal-powered plants. Co-generation is also considered by some to be a more reliable source of power than the power-distribution grid, which at least in the US is said to be old and in dire need of improvements.