Baker Hughes Supplies NovaLT12 Gas-Turbine-Driven Compressor Trains to Snam

Baker Hughes has been awarded a contract from Snam, booked for Q1 2024, to provide three NovaLT12 gas-turbine-driven compressor trains for a gas compressor station in Sulmona, Italy. The turbines provide the option to run on 100% natural gas or hydrogen blends of up to 10%.

“This milestone in our long-standing collaboration with Snam demonstrates that the energy transition requires continuous partnership. Together, we are innovating and delivering critical world-firsts for the decarbonization of gas networks,” said Ganesh Ramaswamy, executive vice president, Industrial & Energy Technology at Baker Hughes. “Our work with customers and partners is part of our commitment to developing innovative technology solutions, such as the NovaLT12, that enable the decarbonization of energy ecosystems and the creation of the hydrogen economy while continuing to support the need for an affordable and secure energy supply.”

NovaLT12 gas turbine; Image Credits: Baker Hughes

The new gas compressor station is part of Snam’s Adriatic Line pipeline project, in which the first phase was included in Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, under the REpowerEU plan, and deemed eligible for funding. The Adriatic Line project will construct a 425 km long hydrogen-ready pipeline to transport additional energy supplies from Azerbaijan, Africa, and the Eastern Mediterranean to northern Europe.

The supply contract was granted to Baker Hughes after a public tender, building on the companies’ collaboration for hydrogen equipment testing and installation. In 2020, the duo successfully tested a hydrogen turbine designed for a gas network and, in 2022, Baker Hughes installed a NovaLT12 turbine at Snam’s Istrana site in Italy.

Baker Hughes recently hosted its Annual Meeting (AM) in Florence, in which company representatives offered insight on increasing turbomachinery orders and advancements in hydrogen technology. According to Lorenzo Simonelli, CEO of Baker Hughes, the company’s annual turbomachinery orders for 2023 were 12% higher than the previous year. Orders from SBM Offshore, Saudi Aramco, and Shell were but a few of the large-scale turbomachinery deliveries to be fulfilled in the upcoming years.

In terms of hydrogen advances, Baker Hughes spoke a bit about its hydrogen testing facility in Florence. It is being used to validate its NovaLT industrial turbines to run up to 100% hydrogen. Its test bench allows full-load testing with fuel flexibility and features a 300-bar pressure and 2,450 kg of hydrogen storage capacity.

Maria Sferruzza, EVP of International Engineering, Construction & Solutions at Snam, said the company has been expanding the pipeline network in the southern part of Italy to make it as strong as that in the north while making the entire network hydrogen-compatible and addressing methane abatement.