Gas turbines and combined cycle: Value chain
Three firms, sold out for years by data-centre demand
What this tab covers Who does what, from equipment makers to builders, owners, operators, traders and users, with the leading companies at each step.Three firms dominate large gas turbines, and demand from data centres and grids has filled their factories years ahead: GE Vernova's backlog reached 116 GW by mid-2026, with slots reserved for 2031 delivery.
The chain
Critical materials Heavy-duty and aeroderivative turbine makers Aero engine makers Steam turbine, generator and HRSG partners EPC contractors Owners and operators Service| Stage | What happens | Leading companies |
|---|---|---|
| Critical materials | Nickel, cobalt and rhenium for superalloys; about 80% of rhenium goes into superalloys. Rhenium mining is led by Chile, China, Poland, the United States and Uzbekistan. | 9 |
| Heavy-duty and aeroderivative turbine makers | Design and build the turbine core and usually supply the whole power island. Orders hit about 57 GW in 2024 (McCoy data via MHI; Turbomachinery International reports nearly 500 units, plus about 30 GW of unreported reservations) and were heading for about 70 GW in 2025. Backlogs in mid-2026: GE Vernova 116 GW, Siemens Energy nearly 70 GW, Mitsubishi 35 GW. In Q2 2026, J.P. Morgan counted 38 GW of orders: Siemens Energy 12.5 GW, GE Vernova 11.3 GW, Mitsubishi Power 5.3 GW (analyst estimates). GE Vernova plans to lift capacity from 20 to 30 GW a year by 2030. | GE Vernova (United States) Siemens Energy (Germany) Mitsubishi Power (Japan) Doosan Enerbility (Korea) Dongfang Electric (China) Baker Hughes (United States, aeroderivatives)6716171826 |
| Aero engine makers | Build turbofans for airliners. GE Aerospace's commercial engine deliveries rose 25% in 2025, with record LEAP output (up 28%); Pratt & Whitney's sales rose 17% to USD 32.9 billion while it inspects part of its geared turbofan fleet for a powder-metal flaw. | CFM International (United States and France: GE Aerospace and Safran) Pratt & Whitney (United States, RTX) Rolls-Royce (United Kingdom)1011 |
| Steam turbine, generator and HRSG partners | Supply the steam half of combined-cycle blocks when not from the gas turbine maker. NEM Energy ranks first for cumulative HRSG orders since 1980 and John Cockerill second for 2023 orders with 19.9% (both McCoy data, as reported). | Toshiba (Japan, steam turbines) Doosan Enerbility (Korea, steam turbines) NEM Energy (Netherlands, owned by MiCo of Korea, HRSGs) John Cockerill (Belgium, HRSGs) Nooter/Eriksen (United States, HRSGs)225201921 |
| EPC contractors | Engineer, buy and build the whole plant for the owner, often in consortium with the turbine maker. Recent examples: Kiewit for the 1,425 MW Smarr plant in Georgia (2026), SEPCOIII with Doosan Enerbility and Harbin Electric for four 1,800 MW Saudi plants (2024), and Samsung C&T with Doosan for steam turbines at Qatar's 2,400 MW Facility E (2025). | Kiewit (United States) SEPCOIII, part of PowerChina (China) Harbin Electric (China) Doosan Enerbility (Korea) Samsung C&T (Korea)22232425 |
| Owners and operators | Utilities, independent producers and increasingly data-centre developers; gas made 21% of world electricity in 2025. About 80% of GE Vernova's recent customers are traditional utilities and 20% data centres. | JERA (Japan) Saudi Electricity Company and ACWA Power (Saudi Arabia) KEPCO (Korea) Oglethorpe Power (United States)613232422 |
| Service | Hot-section parts wear out and are replaced on fixed schedules, usually under long-term service agreements with the turbine maker. | GE Vernova (United States) Siemens Energy (Germany) Mitsubishi Power (Japan)6 |
Sources
- GE HA Turbine Snags Another World Record for CCGT Efficiency POWER Magazine, 2018
- GE Vernova gas turbine backlog climbs to 116 GW Utility Dive, 2026
- Gas Turbine Market Report: 2024 Posts Highest Units, MWs in 22 Years Turbomachinery International, 2025
- Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Rhenium US Geological Survey, 2026
- GE Aerospace fourth quarter and full-year 2025 earnings release (Form 8-K) GE Aerospace / US SEC, 2026
- RTX reports 2025 results and announces 2026 outlook RTX, 2026
- Global Energy Review 2026: Electricity supply IEA, 2026
- GTCC business summary 2025 (investor presentation; market data from McCoy Power Reports) Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, 2025
- Mitsubishi gas turbine backlog grows (Q1 FY2026 results) Utility Dive, 2026
- Global gas turbine orders hit record high as power demand surges (J.P. Morgan data reported by Bloomberg) OilPrice.com, 2026
- John Cockerill, second world supplier of HRSGs with 20% of market shares according to the McCoy report John Cockerill, 2024
- MiCo completes NEM Energy acquisition amid AI-driven gas power boom Korea Times, 2026
- Nooter/Eriksen newsroom (HRSG aftermarket and services) CIC Group, 2025
- Oglethorpe Power selects Kiewit as EPC for new combined cycle plant Power Engineering, 2026
- Sepco 3 and Doosan to undertake Rumah 1 and Nairiyah 1 EPC MEED, 2024
- Harbin to build Rumah 2 and Nairiyah 2 power plants MEED, 2024
- Doosan Enerbility to equip Qatari combined-cycle plant (Facility E) Turbomachinery International, 2025
- Dongfang Electric Corporation Limited: Annual results announcement for the year 2025 Dongfang Electric (HKEX filing), 2026