MTU Power, Equinor Extend MRO Contract on LM Gas Turbines

MTU Power has signed a five-year contract extension with Equinor ASA for MRO work on its LM-series industrial gas turbines. MTU Power will service Equinor’s fleet of GE Vernova Gas Power LM2500 and LM6000 industrial gas turbines until 2028. The MRO contract was initially signed in 2015 and, in addition to turbine servicing, it also entails offshore field service support, piece part repairs, and in-country level 2 maintenance, including module swaps and smaller work scopes.

“The future is all about efficient use of resources. MTU’s technical expertise and global network ensures that Equinor’s operations will run smoothly for years to come with a focused eye on developing further improvements,” said André Sinanian, Managing Director and SVP at MTU Maintenance Berlin-Brandenburg. “Our goals and ambitions for this decade and beyond are, therefore, very much aligned when it comes to sustainably driving technology forward.”

MTU Maintenance Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH is the contract partner and will perform the MRO work at its facility in Ludwigsfelde, south of Berlin. MTU Power will also offer technical support to expand Equinor’s footprint in Brazil, where it has been operating a level 2 industrial gas turbine service center since 2012.

MTU Maintenance Berlin-Brandenburg; Image Credits: MTU Aero Engines

The company also signed a five-year service agreement with Petrobras in November 2021. It covers the MRO work for 36 of Petrobras’ LM6000PC gas turbines across four locations in Brazil. Full turbine overhaul services were carried out at the MTU Maintenance center in Ludwigsfelde, Germany. For onsite tasks, technicians can be dispatched from MTU’s service center in São Paulo.

“We are delighted to have entered into this long-term service agreement with MTU,” says Geison Bitencourt, Turbomachinery Workshop Manager and Contract Manager, Petrobras. “Our first four turbines are already in the MTU Maintenance Berlin-Brandenburg shop, and we look forward to receiving excellent technical support and cost-effective maintenance and repair solutions for these engines and our entire fleet.”

Last week, MTU Maintenance Berlin-Brandenburg completed an audit by Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA), the German aviation authority, for the next steps in obtaining its CFM56-7B test capability. And MTU Maintenance Dallas received approval, from the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), to test the engine model after a successful correlation of its test cell. The test cell approval (for its location south of the German capital) completes its CFM56-7B portfolio expansion so that the Berlin-Brandenburg location can conduct the full range of MRO work scopes on the engine model, including testing, at one site.

“The ability to test CFM56-7B engines in Europe, North America, and Asia within an independent network is quite unique to MTU because customers from any market in the world have near-immediate access to our comprehensive services,” said Sinanian. “Expanding our capabilities and capacity across locations enables us to better serve the MRO needs for the prolific CFM56 and to continue MTU Maintenance’s success story.”

MTU Maintenance also announced its plans to expand its global ON-SITEᴾˡᵘˢ service activities. The company is integrating its on-site services by creating a central unit that will oversee and steer the global network of MRO response teams. In 2023, MTU’s ON-SITEᴾˡᵘˢ completed 1,000+ on-site events for over 500 customers globally.