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Industrial compressors are run at incredibly high speeds under immense pressure every day. This stress causes the rotors inside to naturally warp and bend, creating imbalances over time due to their dynamic nature. If these imbalances go unchecked for too long they can lead to more catastrophic damage, expensive field repairs, and unplanned downtime costs surpassing $2MM per day. Consequently, there are long-standing and recommended balancing practices in place to prevent these problems.

High Speed Balancing

 has been a hotbed for collaborative announcements. Earlier today, the company announced 

partnerships to support LNG, ammonia, and offshore greenfield developments

. Further collaborations with Eden Geothermal, PETROVIETNAM, Microsoft, and NNPC/FIRST E&P were also announced.

To advance geothermal opportunities in the United Kingdom, Baker Hughes signed an agreement with Eden Geothermal Ltd. The company also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to deploy integrated services with PETROVIETNAM, a Vietnamese oil and gas group, to advance drilling operations, plug and abandonment, and related services.

Expanding on its previous collaboration, Baker Hughes signed an MoU with Microsoft to further technical integration, align product development pipelines, and co-deliver solutions that use Cordant by Baker Hughes and Microsoft Azure. Both companies want to create new customer value by enabling advanced digital capabilities, scalability, and enhanced flexibility.

“This expanded collaboration with Microsoft underscores our shared commitment to innovation, sustainability, and solving critical customer challenges across the energy and industrial sectors,” said Aravind Yarlagadda, Senior Vice President of Industrial Solutions, Industrial & Energy Technology at Baker Hughes. “By deepening the integration of Cordant and Microsoft Azure and aligning our product and go-to-market strategies, together we can drive operational excellence and support customers in driving value at scale from their digital investments.”

 Cordant solutions built with Azure AI Foundry to optimize operations, improve predictive maintenance, enhance safety, promote energy efficiency, and drive innovation and growth.

 Aligning product pipelines to ensure that Cordant continuously evolves with Azure’s innovations.

 Align on comprehensive go-to-market strategies.

 Cordant solutions will be available in Azure Marketplace.

"By extending our collaboration with Baker Hughes, we are driving industry-specific innovation to help transform the energy and industrial sectors," said Darryl Willis, Corporate Vice President Energy and Resources Industry at Microsoft. "Integrating Cordant with Azure's capabilities enables our joint customers to improve safety and reliability and achieve greater operational performance, energy efficiency, and growth through AI-powered digital solutions."

Baker Hughes is deploying its integrated digital production optimization solution, Leucipa automated field production, offshore in Niger Delta, marking its first deployment in Sub-Saharan Africa.

"Leucipa is enhancing the oilfield to be smarter and more efficient, enabling our customers to maximize the value of their assets," said Amerino Gatti, Executive Vice President of Oilfield Services & Equipment at Baker Hughes. "Our collaboration will support the responsible development of energy resources needed in Sub-Saharan Africa for years to come."

The company’s agreement with NNPC Limited/FIRST Exploration & Petroleum Development Company (FIRST E&P) will utilize Leucipa’s workflows to optimize well performance and enhance efficiency by automating functions, including:

Leucipa helps oil and gas operators proactively manage production and reduce carbon emissions. It utilizes data and automates production processes to minimize inefficiencies, ensure environmentally sound operations, and assist customers in recovering millions of barrels.

During its Annual Meeting, Baker Hughes signed agreements with Eden Geothermal, PETROVIETNAM, Microsoft, and NNPC/FIRST E&P.

Conference Coverage

Baker Hughes Announces Collaborations for Geothermal Power, Drilling Ops, Tech Integration, Automated Field Production

The current landscape of non-lithium long-duration storage technologies continues to grow and change. On Tuesday morning at POWERGEN 2025, Megan Reusser, Technology Manager at Burns & McDonnell, shed some light on this ever-changing market in her session, 

Navigating the Current Landscape of Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES) 

and highlighted the advantages and disadvantages of technologies in the space, such as:

Currently, legislation supports LDES, but the new administration may change that. The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) is funding five to 15 projects at $20 million each.

“To achieve net-zero emissions goals, different forms of energy storage are going to be required due to several factors,” Reusser said. “Number one is the intermittency of renewables. As we know, there is an increase when the wind is blowing or the sun is shining but having the energy storage in place to follow that can also help enhance the grid’s stability and reliability. So, really focusing those two things together in the form of energy storage. Decarbonization across industries is another factor as is energy cost optimization—storing when costs are low, selling when costs are higher. Energy storage could also help reduce the need for grid expansion by allowing power and access in remote areas.”

There are four main types of LDES: mechanical, thermal, electrochemical, and chemical. Each type of LDES technology has its own set of challenges and advantages.

 converts electrical energy into potential or kinetic energy. This category has many technologies under its umbrella, and Reusser said it’s really for the longer duration. Some examples include:

Compressed air solutions, which store air at high pressures (geology-based)

Liquid air solutions, which store air at cold temps but require a high energy demand

Mechanical LDES technologies are used for grid balancing, backup power, and industrial microgrids. Some challenges with mechanical LDES are its high capital expenditures (CapEX) and inefficiency compared to other forms of energy storage. Plus, it has geographical limitations.

 technologies store energy in the form of heat, including latent heat, sensible heat, and electrothermal. Heat is transferred to working fluids to produce steam via a turbine at a later point. Thermal LDES applies to industrial heating but not industrial power.

It is scalable for long durations and decarbonizes hard-to-abate sectors. Potential heat loss and higher CapEx are challenges.

 technologies include flow batteries, metal anode batteries, and static batteries—they may look like lithium batteries, but they have a different chemistry. There are 40 different chemistries of flow batteries. What makes it a flow battery and differentiates it from a static or lithium battery is electrolytes are stored in tanks and flow through the cells to create the current.

Flow batteries are good for integration with renewables. They are scalable, have long lifespans, and have a low risk of thermal runaway. However, costs can be high, and due to configurations—several tanks with pumps, etc.—they have a lower energy density, and it takes up more space to have the same amount of energy storage in comparison to lithium. It also has a lot of moving parts, so it will require regular maintenance for some of the pumps, valves, and other components. Also, batteries tend to struggle in low-temperature conditions.

 technology solutions are hydrogen, ammonia, or LNG. For example, you could use renewable power to create hydrogen and then store that hydrogen, and that could technically be your form of energy storage. The same goes for ammonia and LNG. This is a good fit if you’re more interested in utilizing the molecule rather than the electron, Reusser said. This works to transport fuel, in industrial processes, and energy export so that you’re moving the molecule and not the electron. They can also be used to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors.

These technologies also have high energy density. Similar to thermal and mechanical LDES, they are complex systems, so you could have high CapEx, and you have to deal with storing and transporting the molecules.

Choosing the right type of energy storage depends on the use case and lifecycle. Reusser recommends assessing operating conditions and cycling frequency and evaluating CapEx and financial planning.

Megan Reusser of Burns & McDonnell said mechanical, thermal, electrochemical, and chemical LDES could help reduce the need for grid expansion, but each has its challenges. 

Navigating Long-Duration Energy Storage

With the resurgence of gas-fired power driven by the current and projected increase in electricity demand, carbon-capture projects may serve to keep decarbonization initiatives on track into the future. At POWERGEN 2025, Kevin Lauzze, Senior Vice President of Sargent & Lundy, presented 

Lessons Learned from Carbon-Capture Pilot Projects

, outlining the advantages and risks of carbon-removal pilots prior to market entrance.

Lauzze stressed the importance of pilot projects in advancing carbon-capture technologies, but many stall during development or fail to reach the demonstration phase entirely. Based on his company’s experience, he provided a comprehensive how-to on flexible design, scale-up challenges, equipment sourcing, and budget planning pitfalls.

“The issue is greenhouse gases and the greenhouse gas effect,” said Lauzze. “Over the last handful of years, as we’ve emitted more greenhouse gases, we’ve amplified this. The gases are trapping more heat and making the Earth warmer. Greenhouse gases are comprised of multiple things, but primarily CO

, with most emissions coming from transportation, electricity generation, and industrial activities.”

 problem, he claims that the pollutant is here to stay with natural gas’ long-term necessity; thus, carbon-capture pilot projects will remain an important factor in continuing decarbonization efforts as more gas comes online. According to Lauzze, data centers are a two-fold driver behind carbon-capture growth and increasing gas integration.

Putting aside the immense power requirements, AI data centers will spur carbon-capture growth because “the people buying this power have very specific time-based sustainability goals,” said Lauzze. “Google wants a 50% CO

 reduction by 2030; Amazon wants net-zero by 2040; and Microsoft wants to be carbon-negative by 2030. This is what’ll drive the market.”

In a typical pilot, the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) lies around 6 or 7. At TRL 6, the complete prototype system is built and demonstrated in an applicable environment that resembles a future operational scenario; however, this version may not feature full system integration. At TRL 7, this prototype is demonstrated in a fully operational environment.

Sargent & Lundy has assisted companies in completing pilots at TRL6/7, and Lauzze provides specific examples: “The first one is at a Calpine facility in California using ION’s technology. It captures 10 tons of CO

 per day with an ION amine solvent. The unique aspect is its modular construction; it isn’t very big, but amine systems don’t save on height, instead on the diameter of the system. These 100-feet-tall modules were assembled in Texas and then shipped to California, but this caused a real challenge for this project.”

The next project for MTR Carbon Capture uses a membrane system to capture up to 150 tons of CO

 per day: “This is a good example of a project that hasn’t been tested at a larger scale, so a pilot is really important to help figure out optimization, failures, and costs,” said Lauzze. “One of the bigger challenges is that it’s located in Wyoming and needed a building. If you’re doing a pilot, you’ll want a controlled environment to perform testing and optimization without worrying about the cold. Consider where you build the pilot.”

He rounded out the pilot project examples with Chart Industries’ Sustainable Energy Solutions, which is demonstrating its carbon-capture technology at a cement plant. The system—about to be installed—will capture approximately 30 tons of CO

“Pending the decisions of our current administration, there are currently many opportunities for the Department of Energy (DOE) to fund these projects,” said Lauzze. “Four projects have already been announced by the DOE and are underway, and people can apply for pilot project funding. The DOE is committed to funding these types of projects to surpass challenges associated with obtaining a TRL. There is about $70 million in project development funding with the DOE.”

Outside of DOE funding, there’s not much available for those willing to test their systems.

Despite the available funding for carbon-capture pilots, technology providers need certain guarantees to continue projects. These system developers are hesitant, according to Lauzze, to demonstrate their technologies on alternative generation sources or those phasing out, such as coal. Carbon-capture providers may not be willing to take risks on combined-cycle assets either, as there’s not much data on this technology combination.

Lauzze said that all successful carbon-capture pilots reduce three kinds of risk: technology, deployment, and operational risks. Minimizing these risks during a pilot contributes to technology commercialization and market entrance, especially considering the role investors serve to put their money and reputation behind a technology for anticipated success.

He outlined several additional considerations for pilot project developers:

Temporary vs. permanent installations must be evaluated, as it heavily impacts cost

The test plan should be completed pre-FEED

Pilots should embrace using smaller or used equipment, as some industrial vendors may not prioritize these orders, leading to longer wait times

Demonstration equipment can be built from scratch

Pilot projects should closely (or exactly) replicate the full-scale commercial model or operating scenario

Lastly, “The whole design depends on agreement,” said Lauzze. “As you enter a pilot, make sure all the stakeholders agree on its purpose. It’ll save on later changes and prevent confusion during field deployment. If you do this up front, it’ll go a long way.”

Kevin Lauzze of Sargent & Lundy discusses the rise of carbon-capture pilot projects and how technologies can successfully enter the market.

Setting Up Carbon-Capture Pilot Projects: Do’s and Don’ts

During our visit to PowerGen 2025 in downtown Dallas, 

Jeffrey Benoit, Vice President of Clean Energy Solutions at PSM - a Hanwha company

, and Bobby Noble, Senior Program Manager, Gas Turbine R&D at EPRI, about gas turbine-equipped power plants, hydrogen- and ammonia-fueled 

, and other updates and advancements in the industry.

TURBO: With increasing renewable energy penetration, how will existing gas turbine-equipped power plants be modified to support an intermittent grid?

 With the increased penetration of renewables, one thing we have to continue to focus on is the resiliency and reliability of the grid. Anytime you put an asset onto the grid that is not dispatchable and to the controls outside of your home, there are challenges. So, one of the things for gas turbines is filling that dispatchable need and being flexible and able to respond.

 For me, my company is responsible for retrofits, conversions, and upgrades for the installed fleet of gas turbines. So, one of the things that we're doing, and being asked for by our customers, is how to improve operational flexibility, how to improve efficiency, how to provide peaking power while maintaining emission compliance. All these technologies that we have can be manifested in products that can be easily dropped into these gas turbines, and you need that resiliency and the ability to modify the operational profile to balance renewables.

TURBO: What role will hydrogen- and ammonia-fired gas turbines play in a decarbonized future? What are the latest developments in these fields?

 Hydrogen and ammonia add to our optionality, which is going to be key as we look at the needs for decarbonization. These fuels act not only as fuel and a potential fuel replacement for gas turbines but also as an energy-storage mechanism. Coupled with energy storage and the energy released at dispatchable opportunities, these will continue to be an avenue to help us have that resilient and reliable future.

 Fuel flexibility with hydrogen, refinery off-gas, or ammonia is just a natural extension of the flexibility inherent in the gas turbines. We are focused on combustion retrofits that allow hydrogen consumption up to 100%. So, think about this: meeting emissions requirements, with the ability to operate on 100% natural gas all the way with a variable blend up to 100% hydrogen—these are products that we've spent years and years developing in our test facility in Germany to make sure that we're not going to cause any issues with the operation of the power plant. Of course, the other side of the equation is where is the hydrogen or ammonia going to come from?

Jeff Benoit and Bobby Noble discuss the reliability and flexibility of gas turbines and how they satisfy many needs within power generation. 

Gas Turbines are Centerstage in the Energy Future 

Downtown Dallas welcomed attendees and exhibitors from the energy and power-generation industries at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center as POWERGEN International 2025 kicked off.

Jamie Reesby of Clarion Events welcomed attendees and kicked off the opening keynote Tuesday morning. She gave a brief history of power from the 19

 centuries and announced that POWERGEN 2026 will take place in San Antonio, Texas, Jan. 20 - 22, 2026, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. 

Kevin Clark, Content Director of Clarion Events, welcomed Marc Spieler, Senior Managing Director of Energy at NVIDIA, to the stage. NVIDIA, an accelerating computing platform company, is using its AI to support all things power.

“Feedstock for AI is data and electrons,” Spieler said. “Silicon is the foundation, but software delivers results.”

Newer AI platforms can work with each other and assist human operations. Spieler said that AI will be integrated into power generation hardware, like turbines and transformers, forming digital twins in the future. 

Power consumption is expected to grow due to transformer evolution. “Inferencing has accelerated AI exponentially,” he said. “It is becoming more efficient and lowering data center consumption.”

Power consumption from AI and data centers is a hot topic, and there is no slowdown in sight. Data center demand will continue to grow, but Spieler suspects that other industries will consume more power over the next 10 years. 

He sees AI as a solution: “AI can deliver more production, less risk, low costs, a low-carbon footprint, and a better customer/employee experience,” he said. “Large language models make data accessible and prevent workflow waste.”

Energy companies currently use AI for data science and predictive AI, robotics, computer vision, digital twins, physics machine learning (ML), security, and generative AI.

“Accelerated AI is sustainable and solves more problems than it causes,” Spieler said. “It must be embraced, or you'll fall behind.”

Chris Crosby, CEO of Compass Datacenters, which builds the data centers that house AI, gave a brief overview of data centers and how they vary: some are built to last, and some are built to "exit", he said.

Standardizing data centers enables scaling up or down. Given that construction cannot keep pace with data center demand, homogenous designs are important.

“Data centers can transform grids for the better despite consumption challenges,” Crosby said. “Scaling up requires cookie-cutter setups and equipment within utilities.”

Currently, Compass uses hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) to power data centers, but it is moving toward natural gas. He also said that regulations are a roadblock to loading the grid with power, as the EPA classifies HVO the same as diesel.

Eliecer Viamontes, CEO of Entergy Texas, briefed attendees on the company’s scope and plans to power Southeast Texas. He said many factors impacted the company’s load forecast, including the Ukraine war, electrification, and data center demand. The company builds in areas with a rich hydrogen infrastructure, so there is promise there, given that Texas needs 40% more capacity in the next four years.

Viamontes outlined Entergy’s Southeast Texas Energy Plan (STEP):

He said that carbon capture works in tandem with this plan. STEP Ahead will provide four additional generation sources: Legend, Lone Star, Segno, and Votaw— Segno and Votaw are renewables.

Looking ahead, Viamontes said Entergy, Meta, and AWS will build largest data center in Louisiana.

Richard Voorberg, President of North America at Siemens Energy, said gas turbines have grown tremendously since 2022.

“Siemens Energy is developing newly sized gas turbines,” he said.

Oil and gas are necessary to support dispatchable power. Siemens Energy is expanding its power generation facilities across the United States. “American-made is an upcoming mandate, so Siemens Energy will focus on U.S.-based power,” Voorber said.

The next issue is securing the power supply, which will require more research and development (R&D). To this point, Siemens Energy spent over $4 billion in recent years in R&D.

“Partnerships are the way forward,” he said.

AI’s Power Play: Meeting the Growing Energy Demands of Data Centers,

 will explore how utilities, digital infrastructure, and other key players are responding to the increasing power demand from AI and data centers. Blair Loftis, National Director of Power Generation & Transmission at Terracon, will moderate the panel, which includes speakers from Duke Energy, NVIDIA, Salt River Project, and more.

Kevin Clark, Content Director of Clarion Events, said this keynote panel “features utilities, digital infrastructure, and other stakeholders discussing how market participants can work to address data center load growth.

Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 8:15 a.m., a panel of OEMs from GE Vernova, Mitsubishi Power Americas, PSM - a Hanwha Company, Siemens Energy, and Solar Turbines, are tackling

The Role of Gas Turbines in the Clean Energy Transition

. The keynote will highlight the rapid development of low-carbon fuel retrofits for gas turbines, specifically focusing on hydrogen and ammonia.

Keynote speakers focused on power consumption and how it will be managed and sustained in the future. 

POWERGEN’s Opening Keynote Discusses AI, Data Centers, Gas Turbines

At POWERGEN 2025, Boualem Hadjerioua, the Director of Hydro Operations at Mesa Associates, discussed hydropower generation's future and technical details.

According to Hadjerioua, the industry is focused on integrating modularity with hydro turbines, particularly for high-head operations. The Department of Energy is funding much of this hydropower work, including the latest control and head-adaptability innovations from Mesa Associates. However, he said hydropower needs more support.

He identifies two main challenges regarding widespread hydropower buildout: environmental impact and cost of implementation: “Environmental impact includes fish passage, fish population, water quality, and water quantity. The cost of implementation, or construction cost, must have a good return on investment. We look at the cost of energy compared to construction costs over time.”

At POWERGEN 2025, Boualem Hadjerioua of Mesa Associates covers the roadblocks of hydropower buildout, latest tech innovations, modularity, and more.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industry Compressor

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