Material Insights · Understanding the Material World

Gas turbines and combined cycle: Equipment and suppliers

Superalloy blades, steam boilers and generators in one block

What this tab covers For each method, the main pieces of equipment, who makes them (by region) and what they are made of (bill of materials).

A combined-cycle block is a gas turbine, a heat recovery steam generator, a steam turbine and one or more generators; a peaker is just the gas turbine and generator; a jet engine adds a fan.

Combined-cycle gas plant

Heavy-duty gas turbine1256791626

Compresses air, burns gas and expands the gas to drive the generator; produces about two thirds of the block's output.

United States GE Vernova Europe Siemens Energy Japan and Korea Mitsubishi Power, Doosan Enerbility China Dongfang Electric
Bill of materials
  • Hot-section blades and vanes: single-crystal nickel superalloys (some with rhenium) with internal cooling and thermal barrier coatings
  • Combustors: nickel alloys, some made by additive manufacturing
  • Turbine as share of plant: about USD 950/kW of a USD 2,500/kW plant about 38% (calculated)
Heat recovery steam generator (HRSG)1201921

Boiler heated by the turbine exhaust (about 650 C) that raises steam at several pressures for the steam turbine.

Europe NEM Energy (Netherlands; Korean-owned since 2026), John Cockerill (Belgium) United States Nooter/Eriksen
Bill of materials
  • Finned tube bundles: carbon and alloy steel
Steam turbine121225

Expands the recovered steam; provides about one third of output.

United States GE Vernova Japan and Korea Toshiba, Doosan Enerbility Europe Siemens Energy
Bill of materials
  • Rotor and blades: alloy steel forgings
Generator21215

Turns shaft power into electricity at up to 98.9% efficiency (air-cooled, up to 400 MVA).

United States GE Vernova Europe Siemens Energy Japan and Korea Toshiba
Bill of materials
  • Stator: copper windings in laminated electrical steel
  • Cooling: air, hydrogen or water depending on size

Open-cycle / peaker plant

Aeroderivative gas turbine67

Lightweight turbine derived from a jet engine, quick to start and cycle.

United States GE Vernova, Baker Hughes Europe Siemens Energy, Rolls-Royce Japan and Korea Mitsubishi Power Rest of world UEC (Russia)
Bill of materials
  • Hot section: nickel superalloys
  • Price: about USD 1,800/kW (analyst estimate)

Jet engines

High-bypass turbofan81011

Core gas turbine driving a large fan for thrust.

United States CFM International (with Safran, France), Pratt & Whitney Europe Rolls-Royce
Bill of materials
  • Turbine blades: nickel superalloys; 20-30% of core air is used for cooling
  • Hot-section liners and shrouds: ceramic matrix composites rated about 1,200-1,300 C

Sources

  1. Gas Turbines: Past, Present and Future (Efficiency Focus), S.C. Gulen, UTSR Project Review Meeting US DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory, 2021
  2. GE HA Turbine Snags Another World Record for CCGT Efficiency POWER Magazine, 2018
  3. Lazard's Levelized Cost of Energy+ (LCOE+), June 2025 Lazard, 2025
  4. GE Vernova gas turbine backlog climbs to 116 GW Utility Dive, 2026
  5. Gas Turbine Market Report: 2024 Posts Highest Units, MWs in 22 Years Turbomachinery International, 2025
  6. Commercial Aircraft Propulsion and Energy Systems Research, Chapter 3: Aircraft Gas Turbine Engines National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2016
  7. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Rhenium US Geological Survey, 2026
  8. GE Aerospace fourth quarter and full-year 2025 earnings release (Form 8-K) GE Aerospace / US SEC, 2026
  9. RTX reports 2025 results and announces 2026 outlook RTX, 2026
  10. Generators for power generation (product overview and references) Siemens Energy, 2025
  11. Air-cooled generators (GEN-A) GE Vernova, 2025
  12. GTCC business summary 2025 (investor presentation; market data from McCoy Power Reports) Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, 2025
  13. John Cockerill, second world supplier of HRSGs with 20% of market shares according to the McCoy report John Cockerill, 2024
  14. MiCo completes NEM Energy acquisition amid AI-driven gas power boom Korea Times, 2026
  15. Nooter/Eriksen newsroom (HRSG aftermarket and services) CIC Group, 2025
  16. Doosan Enerbility to equip Qatari combined-cycle plant (Facility E) Turbomachinery International, 2025
  17. Dongfang Electric Corporation Limited: Annual results announcement for the year 2025 Dongfang Electric (HKEX filing), 2026