Duke Energy, GE Vernova Strike Major Gas Turbine Deal to Support Explosive Demand Growth

Duke Energy has signed a sweeping partnership with GE Vernova for the supply of advanced gas turbines and associated equipment—potentially securing up to 11 of GE Vernova’s flagship 7HA units to advance specific projects in line with the utility’s integrated resource plans (IRPs).

Duke Energy on April 24 said the “arrangement” would help the company meet its business strategy, which has evolved to meet growing power needs associated with advanced manufacturing, data centers, and population growth.

“As we continue to experience unprecedented growth in our service territories, securing the necessary materials to build critical infrastructure and meet the energy demand is integral to delivering value for our customers and other stakeholders,” said Duke Energy President and CEO Harry Sideris. “We value our collaboration with forward-thinking partners who assist us in advancing our energy modernization strategy.”

Turbine Supply Crunch Is Driving Urgency Among U.S. Utilities

The partnership is the latest between an array of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and utilities and power companies, which are seeking to address an intensifying push to lock in dispatchable generation. As POWER reported in its April 2025 cover story, “Gas Power’s Boom Sparks a Turbine Supply Crunch,” utilities are facing long lead times and competitive bidding for production slots. The gas turbine crunch has prompted a return to practices not seen since the early 2000s—including upfront reservation fees and multi-year turbine procurement planning.

In February, NextEra reinforced a collaboration with GE Vernova to leverage the company’s H-class turbines and potentially support “multiple gigawatts” of generation aimed at serving data centers, manufacturing facilities, and other utilities. During NextEra Energy’s Q1 2025 earnings call on April 23, Chairman and CEO John Ketchum reinforced the urgent need for natural gas-fired generation, though he advocated for a strategy grounded in “energy realism” and “energy pragmatism.”

“We expect 75 GW of new gas to come online between now and 2030,” he noted. “That is significant for sure, but nowhere close to meeting the over 450 GW of total generation we believe are needed. It’s also important to understand that gas-fired plants will come online at a higher cost than renewables and storage. That’s because gas turbines are in short supply and in high demand,” he said.

Ketchum also flagged compounding workforce constraints: “It’s also proving difficult to reestablish the highly skilled workforce required to build these complex power plants. Gas-fired combined cycle plants rely on approximately 1,000 workers across dozens of niche trades. We’ve learned engineering, procurement, and construction (EPCs) are hiring thousands of extra people to address high washout rates with some workers leaving earlier for higher-paying jobs building, for example, liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, data centers, semiconductor chip manufacturing facilities and other industrial facilities.”

Separately, Entergy announced agreements with Mitsubishi Power Americas and Siemens Energy to procure “critical long lead time” equipment, including advanced gas turbines for projects across Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Also in February, NRG Energy unveiled a major alliance with GE Vernova and Kiewit (via TIC) to streamline turbine procurement and engineering for new gas generation, locking in two reservation slots for 7HA turbines totaling 1.2 GW. “With planned turbine access, coordinated [engineering and procurement] support, ready-to-build sites, and a fully integrated development approach, we can deliver power faster, more efficiently, and with greater certainty than anyone else in the market,” said Rob Gaudette, executive vice president with NRG Energy and head of NRG Business and Wholesale Operations in February. “Speed to market wins.”

Industry analysts at the 2025 Western Turbine Users Inc. (WTUI) conference suggest gas turbine orders jumped 32% in 2024—the strongest year since 2002—with GE Vernova leading the market, as Turbomachinery Magazine reported in April. Long-time industry consultant Mark Axford and Tony Brough, president of Dora Partners & Co., estimated that beyond the nearly 60 GW of reported orders, another 30 GW may be tied up in unreported reservation agreements. That brings the total 2024 order book to more than 80 GW.

GE Vernova, which booked 22 GW in gas turbine orders in 2024 (and appears to have reclaimed the global lead for advanced-frame units), is aggressively expanding its U.S. manufacturing capacity to meet surging demand. In January, the company announced a $160 million investment at its Greenville, South Carolina, facility—its largest since the company’s spinoff from GE in April 2024. The expansion is expected to support increases in turbine production, quality, testing capabilities for hydrogen fuel, and delivery speed.

The Greenville site, which has produced turbines since 1968, is central to GE Vernova’s broader $600 million U.S. manufacturing initiative and part of a $9 billion global capital and research and development plan through 2028. GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik on April 24 noted that the upgrades will raise global heavy-duty turbine capacity by more than 25%—from 55 units per year to between 70 and 80 by 2026.

“This arrangement with Duke Energy and the significant expansion of our U.S. manufacturing facilities illustrate our ability and commitment to developing innovative solutions that our customers require to meet today and tomorrow’s energy demands,” Strazik said.

GE Vernova’s 1.5-million-square-foot Greenville facility in South Carolina is a global center for gas turbine manufacturing and repair. The facility is equipped with high-bay cranes, full-speed testing bays, and precision machining capabilities. It builds and services advanced gas turbines including GE Vernova's flagship 7HA, 7FA, and LM series. Courtesy: GE Vernova — GE Vernova’s 1.5-million-square-foot Greenville facility in South Carolina is a global center for gas turbine manufacturing and repair. The facility is equipped with high-bay cranes, full-speed testing bays, and precision machining capabilities. It builds and services advanced gas turbines including GE Vernova’s flagship 7HA, 7FA, and LM series. Courtesy: GE Vernova

Duke’s Load Growth Forecasts Trigger Shift in Generation Strategy

Duke Energy on Thursday said it will locate the new turbines at existing company facilities to “utilize existing infrastructure, including transmission capabilities,” which it said will “significantly reduce cost and speed time to market.” While the company did not specify turbine siting, brownfield development typically allows utilities to accelerate permitting and interconnection while reducing capital costs.

For now, Duke Energy is projecting a dramatic upswing in electricity demand across its six-state footprint. Over the next 15 years, the utility anticipates enterprise-wide annual load growth of 1.5% to 2% in the near term, with growth accelerating to between 3% and 4% beginning in 2027. In the Carolinas, demand is projected to rise even faster, at a rate of 4% to 5% annually. These forecasts reflect a wave of late-stage industrial and commercial projects, including those backed by letter agreements or signed commitments.

To meet this growth, Duke has updated its capital plan and filed multiple IRPs across Indiana, Kentucky, and the Carolinas, with recommended resource additions including new combined cycle natural gas plants, battery storage, and transmission upgrades. Duke Energy Indiana’s 2024 IRP, for example, calls for over 2,800 MW of new combined cycle gas generation by 2032, alongside nearly 500 MW of solar and 400 MW of battery storage—measures expected to deliver a net addition of more than 1,100 MW in firm winter capacity. The Kentucky and Carolinas plans also prioritize dispatchable capacity to support load growth, mitigate renewable intermittency, and ensure compliance with evolving federal regulations.

—Sonal Patel is a POWER senior editor (@sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine).