To work out LM6000 price per kilowatt (kW), use price per kW = amount for a defined equipment scope ÷ matching electrical output in kW. If the output is in megawatts (MW), multiply it by 1,000 first. This helps you compare what each offer buys and decide which records to request before relying on its headline ratio.
Key takeaways
- Divide the amount for a defined scope by matching electrical kW; multiply MW by 1,000 first.
- The April 2024 ERCOT CTG equipment estimate produces approximately USD 839, USD 704 and USD 681 per net reference-plant kW on summer, ISO and winter output—not a market range.
- Keep asks, signed contracts, completed sales, estimates and valuations separately labeled.
- Equal headline ratios can buy different equipment or rely on different output conditions; reconcile both before comparing offers.
- If identity, scope or electrical output is unresolved, request the commercial record, equipment schedule and applicable rating sheet before calculating.
A supported example comes from The Brattle Group and Sargent & Lundy's study for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). For a reference plant with six GE LM6000PC sets using SPRINT, the study's spray-intercooling configuration, it estimates USD 204,913,000 in April 2024 dollars for combustion-turbine-generator (CTG) equipment. CTG equipment means the turbine-generator equipment line, not the complete installed plant. ERCOT study, Table 11.
The same natural-gas reference plant has three stated net outputs. Gross output is electricity generated; net output is what remains after plant auxiliaries—the equipment that consumes power to run the plant—use their share, within the stated measurement boundary. ISO identifies the study's reference conditions; summer and winter use its seasonal conditions. ERCOT study, Tables 1 and 5.
Using that April 2024 CTG equipment estimate, the calculations are:
Summer: USD 204,913,000 ÷ 244,200 net kW = approximately USD 839 per net reference-plant kW.
ISO: USD 204,913,000 ÷ 291,000 net kW = approximately USD 704 per net reference-plant kW.
Winter: USD 204,913,000 ÷ 300,800 net kW = approximately USD 681 per net reference-plant kW.
Each result is rounded to the nearest whole USD per kW. The equipment estimate stays fixed: dividing it by fewer kilowatts gives a higher cost per kW, while dividing it by more gives a lower one. These are three output bases for one estimate, not a market-price range or individual-unit values.
The measure is CTG equipment cost per net reference-plant kW, not a used-equipment offer, completed sale or installed-plant cost. Table 11 lists emissions-control equipment, other equipment, labor, materials and owner costs separately; using net plant output does not add those costs to the equipment estimate. The report's 2026 online year is distinct from its April 2024 cost date.
Why can the same ratio mean different things?#
Two offers can show the same price per kW even though one covers only an engine and another includes a generator and supporting equipment. A generating package is an engine, generator and the supporting equipment specified in its scope; an installed plant adds the work and systems needed for that project. Equal ratios therefore do not establish equal buying value.
Output conditions matter too: a ratio based on electricity generated before auxiliary consumption is different from one based on electricity remaining afterward. A larger stated output makes the ratio look lower without reducing the price. Confirm the conditions and equipment behind that output before treating the lower figure as a better offer.
For example, the historical Industrial & Marine Power (IMP) listing includes an engine, generator, enclosure and controls, but excludes water treatment, chilled-water supply, high-voltage transformers and switchgear, and buildings and foundations. Its NEW heading conflicts with its rebuilt description, so condition remains unresolved. Those exclusions and conflicting descriptions are reasons to request a reconciled equipment schedule and condition records, and to price missing scope separately. Seller's scope and exclusions.
Installed estimates can include much more while still leaving substantial costs out. Page 3 of Sargent & Lundy's August 13, 2025 memorandum for Maritime Electric describes Canadian-dollar LM6000 plant estimates covering equipment, installation, balance of plant—the supporting plant systems—and development/owner costs. It excludes escalation, financing, interest during construction, tariffs, land, network upgrades/interconnection and high-voltage transmission; detailed cost cells are redacted, so the page supplies no equipment-only breakdown. Maritime Electric filing, memorandum page 3.
For the broader budget question, see used-gas-turbine cost and installed scope.
What kind of amount are you comparing?#
An ask is a seller's requested price. An IMP advertisement dated April 1, 2024 offered two seller-described rebuilt LM6000 PC SPRINT packages at USD 20 million each. Its subsequent price-revision date is unknown; it establishes neither a sale nor current availability, and condition and performance remain seller claims. Historical seller listing.
A signed contract records agreed terms. The available price and signature pages of Bryan Texas Utilities' (BTU) contract with GE Packaged Power show USD 10 million for one LM6000 PC generator set with SPRINT. The available signature pages are dated October 15 and October 21, 2002. Those pages do not establish final payment or a complete installed-plant purchase. BTU contract, price and signature pages.
A completed sale records a transaction reported as closed. MMC Energy reported on October 6, 2009 that it had completed a USD 26.65 million sale of two GE LM6000 PC Sprint turbines; its earlier agreement filing describes the turbines and related generating equipment. Neither document establishes an observed individual price or matching individual electrical output, so the lot cannot supply an individual-unit price-per-kW comparison. MMC completion release, MMC pre-closing filing.
An estimate, such as the ERCOT example, models a defined cost scope and date. A valuation describes appraised value on a stated date and basis. Neither by itself establishes a price paid or an available seller offer; keep these historical records separate rather than combining them into a market range.
Which output should you use?#
Use electrical output for the same asset, quantity and configuration as the amount. Mechanical shaft output measures power from the engine before conversion to electricity; it is not interchangeable with electrical kW. A generator's megavolt-ampere (MVA) rating measures apparent power, a different electrical measure, and cannot substitute for its kW rating.
The historical IMP listing states 47,300 kW at ISO conditions but does not clearly establish electrical versus shaft output or gross versus net. That prevents a supported price-per-kW calculation from the advertisement. Request the applicable rating sheet—the document stating output and its conditions—instead of inserting a different package's manufacturer rating. Seller's output statement.
The available BTU guarantee page gives output at the generator terminals, where electricity leaves the generator, under site conditions with cooled inlet air. It does not establish the electricity left for export after all plant consumption. Treating that figure as plant net output would overstate what the available page establishes. BTU guarantee sheet.
How do you compare two offers consistently?#
Put the following information beside each offer before deciding whether the ratios are comparable. Have the commercial reviewer check the amount and terms, the engineer check output compatibility, and the estimator identify missing installed scope.
- Amount class: label each amount as an ask, signed contract, completed sale, estimate or valuation. Request the dated offer, contract, completion record, estimate or appraisal; one class does not prove another.
- Inclusions and exclusions: identify engine-only, generating-package or installed-plant scope. Request the equipment schedule, exclusions, removal/delivery terms, deposits and warranty terms; price missing equipment and services separately so a lower ratio does not conceal a larger remaining budget.
- Quantity and unit identity: confirm whether the amount covers one unit, a lot or a project. Request unit identifiers, variant, turbine and generator years, operating and overhaul hours, and maintenance records; dividing a lot amount by its count does not establish observed individual prices.
- Electrical-output basis and conditions: request the applicable rating or guarantee sheet showing electrical kW, gross/net status, measurement point and auxiliary deductions. Have the engineer confirm fuel, frequency, supplied drive configuration, SPRINT state and ISO or site/seasonal conditions; otherwise the quoted kilowatts may not describe the same equipment or usable output.
- Currency and cost date: record the original currency, amount date and any explicit cost-year basis. Request the supporting dated record and any conversion or adjustment method; a listing date alone does not establish constant-dollar pricing, and different currencies or dates are not automatically equivalent.
Calculate when the amount, scope, identity, quantity and electrical output match and the conditions are explicit; retain the formula, units, date, currency and rounding with the result. Compare only after reconciling differences between the two records. Stop and request records when a required field is missing or conflicting: an engineering opinion cannot replace evidence that the amount and output belong together.
Notes on the sources#
Historical amounts retain their original currencies and dates, without conversion or inflation adjustment. ERCOT's figures share one study; MMC's documents share one issuer. Repeated links are not independent corroboration.
BTU is limited to the available contract pages and Maritime Electric to the cited memorandum page. These records do not establish current market pricing or availability.
What should buyers and sellers do next?#
Buyers and buyer-side sourcing partners: use the GE LM6000 dossier for broader model evaluation. In a request for quotation, provide your requirements and the comparison checklist's records, marking missing or conflicting fields so the next discussion addresses them directly.
Sellers and authorized seller-side partners: offer the unit privately through SecondWatt and supply unit identity, equipment schedules, condition records, inclusions, exclusions, commercial terms and the applicable rating sheet. For broader equipment discovery, use the gas-turbine category.
SecondWatt facilitates introductions between equipment buyers and sellers and may earn a fee when an introduction proceeds.