Solar Turbines Taurus 65

Solar Turbines' newest, most efficient Taurus, 6,500 kWe ISO, on its own gas producer and turbine

Solar Turbines Taurus 65 is one of 21 gas turbines tracked in the SecondWatt catalogue, each with specifications, lead times and indicative secondary-market pricing.

Solar Turbines Taurus 65 gas turbine: 6,500 kWe ISO rating, family-lineage detail versus Taurus 60 and 70, overhaul guidance, and used-market pricing.

The Taurus 65 is Solar Turbines' newest and most efficient Taurus-family power-generation package, rated 6,500 kWe ISO base load at 10,945 kJ/kWh (10,375 Btu/kWh) heat rate, roughly 33% thermal efficiency. Introduced in 2006, it sits one output class above the higher-volume Taurus 60 and below the larger Taurus 70, and its OEM-documented design lineage answers the question a buyer cross-shopping the family actually needs answered: which machines share parts. Per Solar's own 2008 ASME conference paper introducing the model, the Taurus 65's gas producer is an enhanced version of the Centaur 50 air compressor, while its turbine section is a newly designed three-stage turbine similar to the Taurus 70 turbine design. That means Taurus 65 is not a re-rated Taurus 60; it shares no gas producer or turbine with Taurus 60 despite the adjacent output class and shared family name, and hot-section parts do not cross over between them. SoLoNOx (DLE) combustion is the only system listed on the current OEM page, with no Conventional alternative mentioned, unlike Taurus 60's page.

Why it matters

A buyer assuming Taurus 60 and Taurus 65 share spares or an overhaul vendor because they carry the same family name is wrong, and that assumption costs money. Solar's own 2008 introduction paper documents an enhanced Centaur 50 compressor paired with a new three-stage turbine similar to Taurus 70's, not a Taurus 60 derivative. Planning a used-Taurus-65 overhaul against Taurus 60 parts availability or lead times will produce the wrong budget and the wrong timeline.

Who buys it

Oil and gas and industrial cogeneration operators buying new capacity choose Taurus 65 over Taurus 60 specifically for the efficiency gain, roughly 33% versus 31.5%, when fuel cost over the machine's life outweighs the lower acquisition liquidity. Used-equipment buyers are a much thinner segment than for Taurus 60, reflecting the newer design's smaller installed base and shorter time in the field since its 2006 introduction.

Key specifications

Technical summary

ISO base-load output, generator set: 6,500 kWe Heat rate: 10,945 kJ/kWh (10,375 Btu/kWh) Thermal efficiency (computed / OEM paper): approximately 33% Exhaust flow / temperature: 75,950 kg/hr at 550 C (1020 F) Combustion system: SoLoNOx (DLE), no Conventional option listed Gas producer lineage: enhanced Centaur 50 air compressor Turbine lineage: new 3-stage turbine, similar to Taurus 70's design Introduction: 2006 (OEM); ASME conference paper GT2008 MachineryTrader Solar Turbines listings with zero Taurus 65 units: 12

Compatibility and dependencies

Taurus 65 shares no gas producer or turbine with Taurus 60, per Solar's own 2008 ASME introduction paper: its compressor is an enhanced Centaur 50 core, and its turbine is a new three-stage design similar to Taurus 70's. Hot-section parts, such as blades, nozzles, and combustor liners, do not cross over between Taurus 60 and Taurus 65 despite the adjacent naming. No OEM source confirms whether the Taurus 65 package shares Taurus 60's skid footprint or enclosure, so that specific claim should not be assumed for a site-retrofit plan.

Pricing and availability

Trend: flat Both disclosed prices found are current asking prices from one marketplace with no earlier price series to compare against. No time-series data exists for this model in the sources checked, so a directional trend cannot be established, and price_trend is set to flat as a neutral default pending more observations.

Lifecycle and maintenance

Solar Turbines cites more than 30,000 overhauls completed fleet-wide, but no Taurus-65-specific fired-hour interval for hot-section inspection or major overhaul appears in public documentation. One market unit shows 2,700 hours logged since a 2022 turbine and gearbox rebuild against 80,200 total package hours, implying the airframe and generator run several times longer between major hot-section work than the turbine core itself.

Common failure points

• 3-stage turbine hot section (blades/nozzles) — coating loss or cracking on a design with a shorter field history than Taurus 60's turbine
• Combustor liner and SoLoNOx fuel injectors — NOx/CO drift between tests or visible injector coking
• Centaur-50-derived compressor section — VIGV actuator lag, fouling, or erosion affecting part-load efficiency
• Reduction gearbox — rising vibration or metal in oil analysis; at least one market unit shows a full gearbox rebuild alongside the turbine
• Generator windings and bearings, Leroy Somer as observed in the market — falling insulation resistance or bearing temperature rise
• Control and protection system — obsolete panel hardware limiting remote monitoring or parts support
• Independent parts sourcing for the turbine section — extended lead time versus Taurus 60 due to a thinner secondary market

Inspection checklist

Borescope report — from a Solar Turbines field service representative, covering all 3 stages of the turbine section Taurus 65 does not share with Taurus 60 Turbine blade and nozzle condition — across all 3 power-turbine stages, the newer turbine-section design introduced with this model in 2006 Compressor condition — fouling, VIGV wear, and erosion on the Centaur-50-derived core, a lineage distinct from the Taurus 60's own 12-stage compressor Combustor liner and SoLoNOx injector wear — the same 12-injector-class component Solar revises most often across combustion generations Generator winding insulation resistance — units found in the market use Leroy Somer generators rated at 6,300V and 10,500V, so confirm voltage class first Generator bearing condition — confirm hours run since the last bearing service against total unit hours, e.g. the 28,143-hour unit with no rebuild disclosed Control system generation and vendor — Taurus 65's narrower production window since 2006 should mean fewer control-hardware generations than Taurus 60's since 1989 Package hours versus turbine-core hours as two separate figures — one market unit shows 80,200 package hours but only 2,700 hours on the turbine/gearbox since a 2022 rebuild Fuel system configuration and Btu rating — confirm against the buyer's actual gas supply, since the 60-class sibling includes at least 1 unit built for 500 Btu landfill gas Enclosure, ventilation, and fire/gas detection completeness — check against the OEM exhaust-flow rating of 75,950 kg/hr (167,440 lb/hr) to confirm ductwork matches nameplate Build-era documentation — confirm whether the unit is an original 2006-era build or a later serial, since SoLoNOx guarantees across the family have moved from roughly 25 ppm NOx on early generations to 9 ppm on current production

Procurement channels

A MachineryTrader results page listing 12 total Solar Turbines units, spanning Centaur 50, Taurus 60, Taurus 70, and Titan 130, carried zero Taurus 65 units, direct evidence of a markedly thinner secondary market than Taurus 60's. Kitmondo, a European used-turbine marketplace, listed the only 3 Taurus 65 units found: two with disclosed EUR asking prices and one at contact for pricing. resale.info showed 1 further unit, around 125,000 hours, also contact for pricing.

Regional notes

The only Taurus 65 units located were offered by European brokers, in Turkey and Portugal, with no US-based listings surfacing on any broker checked. That contrasts with Taurus 60, whose resale listings span the United States, Belgium, and China.