Gas Turbines – from Slow-Seller to Best-Seller

Global demand for large gas turbines is rising rapidly – driven by growing electricity demand, supply bottlenecks, and new large-scale projects. Anyone who wants to implement modern turbines quickly these days needs to secure manufacturing slots early on. This article explains how companies enter into reservation agreements as part of a competitive bidding process to secure manufacturing capacity early on and how Fichtner supports clients worldwide in this process.

The cost-effective conversion of solar and wind energy into electricity paves the way for an economically attractive decarbonization of the electricity sector. At the same time, energy providers, banks, and insurers are increasingly making a commitment to avoid investments in CO₂-emitting facilities. As a result, even state-of-the-art natural gas-fired combined cycle power plants have recently ceased to be viewed as sustainable by many investors – despite their outstanding efficiency. Even the technological excellence of the three leading manufacturers – General Electric, Mitsubishi, and Siemens – has been able to do little to change that.

Just 20 years ago, a firing temperature of 1,200 °C was considered the technological limit. Nowadays, gas turbines reach temperatures of over 1,700 °C, thus setting new standards. For context: Steel begins to glow red at 1,200 °C and loses much of its strength. It was only thanks to advanced cooling film technologies for turbine blades that this enormous technological leap was made possible.

Thanks to higher efficiency and the use of natural gas (CH₄), which consists largely of hydrogen, the CO₂ emissions from modern combined cycle power plants are around 320 g CO₂/kWh – roughly half the average emissions of Germany’s current fleet of fossil fuel-fired power plants.

Despite this progress, a reluctance to invest combined with commitments to sustainability have led to a drastic decline in sales of large gas turbines over the past decade: from over 300 units per year to just around 100. This decline has had noticeable consequences. Staff have been laid off, manufacturing capacity has been scaled back, and supply chains – such as those for large forged rotor parts – have shrunk or collapsed.

Rising Electricity Demand Is Changing the Market

Electricity demand is growing steadily as all sectors of the economy undergo decarbonization. However, renewable energies alone cannot currently meet this increase entirely. In particular, the rapidly rising energy needs of new large data centers are changing the demand for power generation facilities. This is resulting in the global demand for large gas turbines suddenly surging again. In addition to their high efficiency, it is their increased capacity that makes them particularly attractive, with modern turbines now achieving around 600 MW per unit.

Fichtner is currently supporting more than ten power plant projects that utilize large, state-of-the-art gas turbines. Particularly in Asia and the Middle East, we are seeing that the completion times for large-scale projects with a total capacity of several gigawatts are increasing from around three years in the past to more than five years today. The main reason for this is bottlenecks in the manufacturing and delivery processes of the few remaining suppliers of modern large turbines – a situation further exacerbated by similarly long lead times for key grid components such as large power transformers.

However, a project timeline of approximately three years can be ensured by bringing forward the decision on the gas turbine delivery and reserving manufacturing slots through a competitive bidding process. Fichtner has successfully guided a client in Oman through this process. We are currently applying this experience to new large-scale facilities in Syria as well as to additional capacities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

We are also seeing new capacity needs in Europe and other regions. In such cases, competitive reservation agreements – combined with economically attractive terms – can be the deciding factor in selecting the right gas turbine supplier.

A Bridging Technology for a Climate-Neutral Future

Gas turbine power plants are also playing an increasingly important role in grid stabilization in Europe. With the rapid expansion of volatile renewable energies, there is a growing need for flexible, rapidly controllable power plants that reliably provide frequency control, black start capability, and reserve capacity. Modern gas turbines are particularly well-suited to meeting these requirements, making them a vital component of a secure energy system – and a key element in the success of the energy transition.

In addition, modern power plants that currently run on natural gas can make a significant contribution to further decarbonization through the growing use of green hydrogen. To ensure their long-term economic viability, it is crucial to design new plants to be H₂-ready from the outset.

To assist with this, Fichtner has over 30 years of experience in the hydrogen sector – from production, transport, and storage through to industrial and power plant-specific utilization. We use that expertise to help our clients design projects in such a way that they facilitate the eventual transition to hydrogen-blended operation on a technical, economic, and regulatory level.

This makes modern power plants a true bridging technology – and, at the same time, a cornerstone of an increasingly climate-neutral energy future in which hydrogen plays a key role.

February 2026