The current gas turbines market is characterized by major transformations building from two key movements: increasingly strict regulations around carbon emissions, and the pressing need for optimizing energy efficiency.
As these two major forces shape the industrial gas turbines market, the future of gas turbines is confirmed by this equipment’s versatility and capacity to incorporate clean energy sources. This is heightened by the crucial efficiency optimizations provided by advanced technologies such as TIAC or Turbine Inlet Air Cooling, which is pushing gas turbine output to the next level.
As such, it's safe to say the strategies for the optimization of gas turbine performance stand at the center of the gas turbines market and the main technologies shaping its future.
Overview of the gas turbines market today
The recent report by ResearchAndMarkets offers a key overview of trends influencing the gas turbines market today.
First and foremost, the "Europe Middle East and Africa (Emea) Gas Turbines Market - Forecasts from 2024 to 2029" report confirms a growth trajectory: the Europe Middle East And Africa (EMEA) gas turbines market is described as reaching US$8.62 billion in 2022; forecasts expect it to grow at a CAGR of 4.19% in the coming years, achieving a market size of US$11.491 billion by 2029.
Key growth drivers for the industrial gas turbines market include:
- A global increase in energy demand, guided by an expansion in global manufacturing processes, the oil and gas industry or the aerospace industry, among others.
- Carbon emission targets encouraging the adoption of cleaner technologies. In this context, technological advances in the gas turbines market have led to enhanced efficiency and sustainability. Today, gas turbines offer a number of optimizations (from the use of clean energy sources and TIAC technologies and carbon capture technologies).
- Growth in the diverse applications of gas turbines.
- Their capacity to offer “on-demand” power generation, becoming an ally to supplement the potential intermittency of renewable energy alternatives.
As such, gas turbines are increasingly regarded as an efficient, flexible and reliable technology for energy generation, with a rapid deployment and low operation costs and sustainability benefits (for instance, a lower use of water compared to alternatives based on steam). This notion has been emerging across diverse sectors: from the building of state-of-the-art oil and gas industry, to gas turbine innovation in combined heat and power plants.
Gas turbine market share analysis
The ResearchAndMarkets report cited above, combined with figures by Global Market Insights, offer a glimpse into some key gas turbine market share trends:
Gas turbine market share by capacity
The > 1 MW to 30 MW segment is expected to reach over USD 2 billion by 2032.
By technology
The combined cycle heavy duty gas turbine is expected to develop at a higher CAGR than the rest of technologies, with a growth rate of over 5.5% through 2032. Designed for high performance and efficiency, this model’s expansion reflects a global growing interest on efficiency optimization.
By company
Leading companies in the gas turbine market include General Electric (GE), Siemens Energy, Mitsubishi Power, and Rolls-Royce. Other emerging companies as cited by Global Market Insights include Ansaldo Energia, Baker Hughes Company, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Capstone Green Energy Corporation, Doosan, Flex Energy Solutions, Harbin Electric Corporation Co., Ltd., Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., MAN Energy Solutions, Nanjing Turbine & Electric Machinery (Group) Co., Ltd., Opra Turbines, Solar Turbines Incorporated, UEC-Saturn, VERICOR, Wärtsilä, Zorya-Mashproekt.
By region
ResearchAndMarkets cites European countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany and France as leaders in the gas turbine market share. It’s also worth noting advancements in regions such as the Middle East.In fact, a look at future engineering projects in the Middle East offers a glimpse into how initiatives in this region are breaking new grounds when it comes to energy generation. Additionally, Global Market Insights mention the upsurge for the Asia Pacific region and the U.S. gas turbine market for the coming years.
Technological advancements in gas turbines
Innovations in gas turbine technology
There are several areas where technology innovations for gas turbines are establishing crucial new milestones for future developments:
- In terms of material innovations, the search for optimized reliability and efficiency is leading to the development of advanced thermal-barrier coatings.
- There’s an interest in increased versatility to incorporate various fuel compositions and alternative energy sources. The transition from coal-based to natural gas continues, but pioneering projects are also announcing hydrogen-powered gas turbines increasingly represent a viable option.
- Technology advancements are also targeting extended durability and reduction in maintenance needs and downtime, with design and control system optimizations.
- Optimizations in compressor design leading to higher pressures in turbine inlets and, consequently, higher efficiencies.
- Improving fuel gas performance heating systems also stands out among the rest of advances in gas turbine technology. The premise of this advancement is simple: by increasing sensible heat through enhanced heating systems, the temperature of natural gas rises significantly and, consequently, so does combustion efficiency.
TIAC technology
TIAC technology stands at the heart of the multiple optimization efforts for gas turbines.
The core function of these systems is cooling inlet air, enabling power output maximization and maximum energy efficiency improvement.
The foundation for TIAC lies on two basic principles:
- The greater the air mass flow in gas turbines, the greater the power that is delivered.
- Air density increases as its temperature decreases.
TIAC technologies are built on both of these foundations, so that they reduce air temperature just at the inlet of the combustion chamber in order to increase air mass flow and, consequently, power output.
This way, TIAC technologies are capable of boosting power output between 20-30%, all with a low capital investment.
Additional benefits of TIAC technologies include:
- Reducing turbine power losses between 15-30%.
- Allowing companies to increase capacities for power generation with decreased capital expenditure (as TIAC technologies are more economical than a new gas turbine). As such, it presents a lower price per generated megawatt compared with a new GT plant.
- Reducing gas turbine pollution by decreasing the need for additional turbines.
- The possibility to generate a circular model acting as a source of water for irrigation or consumption.
- Recognized as a green technology that allows for carbon credits.
Today, TIAC technologies are considered as particularly useful in locations with high ambient temperatures, in models where these top temperatures usually coincide with on-peak power demand. Through TIAC systems, a constant inlet air temperature is delivered, irrespective of ambient temperatures, both increasing the annual average output MW and saving capital costs in comparison to the installation of additional turbines.
Future of gas turbines: the key projections
Sustainability and environmental impact
As we’ve mentioned above, preoccupation and public regulation around environmental impacts is likely to shape the gas turbines market in the coming years.
The cascading effects will be numerous, with technology advancements paving the way for new gas turbine models where the use of renewable energy sources and a prioritization of energy efficiency are set to become the new standards.
In this context, advancements towards turbines working on hydrogen have already been made. At the same time, it’s also time for developments such as TIAC technologies to continue adding further capacities for electricity generation.
ARANER’s TIAC solutions are at the forefront of efforts for gas turbine optimization. As experts in thermal engineering, we’re allies for the gas turbine market companies looking to improve their equipment’s capacities while ensuring top efficiency and economic results.
Our project with Oil & Gas company Aramco serves as an example of successful implementation of TIAC. Across three Independent Power Projects, ARANER’s TIAC system allowed the company to improve turbine efficiency and obtain more than 146.16 MW of extra power, all while guaranteeing a very low capital cost.
As such, at ARANER we’re leading efforts in the gas turbines market towards greater efficiencies and a commitment with sustainability and top performance. Want to learn more about our work and the potential for TIAC technologies to take the future of gas turbines to the next level? Get in touch with us and discover how we can help you.
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