Weekly Power Brief · No. 4
The factory floor comes first
Turbine makers are adding factory floor, and owners are buying the powertrain before they finish the plant. This week: three Turbine Desk items on a $490 million turbine factory expansion, a new E-class order, and how slot scarcity is splitting the EPC contract; three Grid & Markets items from NextEra, ABB, and Google's PJM virtual power plant; and one Builders & AI item on AI transformer inspection — each linked to the source.
The thread this week is the factory floor. A turbine maker is putting $490 million into more floor space and machining for advanced-class turbines. A federally backed developer is spending its first $3.3 billion on turbines and long-lead equipment before the plants exist. An EPC executive says owners now buy the powertrain first and sort out the rest of the plant later. And a grid equipment maker just posted an 82% jump in U.S. orders.
That is not a side show. For people building companies in power, grid, generation, construction, and infrastructure — and for the operators and founders using AI inside those businesses — the order book now sets the plan. Whoever has the factory slot sets the schedule, and the integration risk is moving to the owner.
Why builders should care
- New factory capacity is not here yet. Mitsubishi's Savannah expansion still awaits its groundbreaking. The slot squeeze outlasts the press release.
- Older frames are still selling. A 9E order for a 372 MW plant is a reminder that E-class technology, and the service work that comes with it, keeps winning new builds.
- The wrap is gone, so somebody has to integrate. When owners buy turbines, HRSGs, and transformers directly, no one automatically guarantees heat rate or COD. Engineering, controls, and commissioning firms that can own that interface gain leverage.
- Equipment money moves first. NextEra's hubs released funding for turbines and long-lead gear years ahead of a 2032 finish. Procurement is now the first construction milestone.
- The squeeze goes past the turbine. ABB's U.S. orders rose 82%. Switchgear, breakers, and transformers are on their own backlog clocks.
- Capacity can be rented, not just built. Google's 1 GW virtual power plant shows big buyers paying for flexibility while new plants wait in line.
- AI starts with clean asset data. The UK transformer pilot spent its first phase on consistent imagery. Sensor, model, work order: the same pattern applies across plants and lines.
What to watch next: Baker Hughes' third-quarter results (October 27, after the close), with its turbine and power systems orders. GE Vernova's third-quarter results (October 28), with updated gas backlog and slot reservations. Howmet Aerospace's third-quarter results (October 29), the turbine blade supplier's read on gas turbine demand. PJM's revised reliability backstop filing at FERC (by October 29). RTO and ISO large-load proposals at FERC (due next month). EIA's next Short-Term Energy Outlook (November 10). Siemens Energy's full-year results (November 11).
Every item below links to the public source. Read the original before you bet a schedule on a summary.
Turbine Desk
Mitsubishi Power puts $490 million into U.S. turbine capacity
Mitsubishi Power Americas will expand Savannah Machinery Works, its U.S. plant for advanced-class gas and steam turbines, with a $490 million investment from parent Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The plan adds 450,000 square feet to the 430,000-square-foot site, plus machining capacity. The site shipped its first U.S.-built gas turbine in 2012. The company cited unprecedented demand.
GE Vernova books a 9E for a 372 MW plant in Côte d'Ivoire
Songon Energies picked GE Vernova to supply a 9E gas turbine and generator for a 372 MW combined-cycle plant near Abidjan, due online in 2029, with China Energy International Engineering as EPC. It could be up to 12% of Côte d'Ivoire's installed base. GE Vernova expects to add the substation, digital software, and long-term services. Proven E-class frames are still winning new builds.
With slots sold out, owners buy the powertrain first
With gas turbines sold out into 2029 or later, Fluor's James Brown told Power Engineering, owners now often buy turbines, HRSGs, and transformers directly from OEMs, then contract engineering and construction separately. Guarantees are fragmented: no one automatically guarantees the integrated plant's output, heat rate, or COD. Lenders are accepting that the owner carries integration risk.
Power Engineering, on gas turbine scarcity and plant execution models
Grid & Markets
NextEra's federal hubs put $3.3 billion toward turbines and long-lead gear
NextEra Energy said it has definitive agreements for three federally backed energy hubs and a pipeline of 30 to 40 more. Two, in Texas and Pennsylvania, plan up to 10 GW of gas generation by 2032; an initial $3.3 billion released in August goes to turbines and other long-lead equipment. A third pairs 6.5 GW of gas generation with a 5 GW data center campus in Encinal, Texas.
ABB's U.S. orders jump 82% as grid equipment demand runs hot
ABB booked a record $12 billion in third-quarter orders, up 40% from a year earlier, with U.S. orders up 82%. Electrification orders hit a record $7.67 billion, up 70%, and the CFO called data centers the standout, with orders up by triple digits. ABB said utilities keep investing to refurbish and build out the grid as aging assets need upgrades. The squeeze reaches well past the turbine.
Google buys a 1 GW virtual power plant in PJM
Google added 1,070 MW to the 100 MW virtual power plant it contracted with Voltus in June. Voltus will aggregate batteries, thermostats, on-site generation, and industrial load, offer it into PJM when the grid is strained, and run it for Google through 2040. PJM demand response revenue jumped 240% from 2024 to 2025. Bringing your own capacity no longer means only building a plant.
Builders & AI
A UK grid operator tests AI on 500 transformers before they fail
Team UAV finished drone imagery of 500 pole-mounted transformers on National Grid Electricity Distribution's network in Cornwall, Wales, and the Midlands. Softwire is building computer vision models to flag visible deterioration such as corrosion, scored against the UK's asset-health method. Phase one ends this year. The groundwork: a repeatable capture workflow so every site feeds one model.
Reader rating