A used gas turbine's purchase price becomes meaningful only after you define the equipment included, its documented condition and the cost of delivering useful power at your site. Compare complete scopes on the same output basis, then separate acquisition cost, installation cost and operating economics before selecting an offer.
Two offers can name the same turbine family and still describe different purchases. One may cover an engine in storage. Another may include the generator, enclosure, controls and auxiliaries. A third may describe an operating plant whose removal becomes your responsibility after closing.
The procurement task is to make those differences visible before a deposit, inspection visit or engineering programme commits the project to one candidate. SecondWatt's gas-turbine catalogue provides model research; the comparison below turns that research into a structured request for equipment.
Key Takeaways
- Identify the exact variant and quoted equipment before comparing package prices.
- Convert every offer to a common site-output and project-scope basis.
- Price missing equipment, condition work and installation responsibilities separately.
- Keep asking prices, completed transactions and illustrative budgets clearly distinguished.
- Request a documented equipment offer before treating availability as a project milestone.
Define the purchase before discussing price#
Start with the object being sold. A turbine engine, a generator package and an installed power plant have different boundaries. The family name alone does not tell you which one appears in an offer, whether controls are included or whether a removed component has a replacement obligation.
Ask for an equipment schedule with a line for every major component, its identity, current condition and inclusion status. Use the same schedule for all respondents. A photograph is supporting evidence; it does not replace an inventory or establish the seller's right to transfer the equipment.
Equipment boundaries to reconcile#
| Quoted object | What to establish | Common comparison problem |
|---|---|---|
| Engine or turbine assembly | Exact variant, accessories, preservation and service records | Compared with a complete generating package |
| Turbine-generator package | Generator, controls, enclosure, inlet/exhaust and auxiliaries | Unlisted equipment assumed included |
| Removed generating package | Removal method, missing interconnections and storage condition | Reinstallation scope treated as routine freight |
| Operating plant | Plant boundary, shared systems and removal responsibility | Site infrastructure assumed transferable |
| Refurbished package | Completed work, replaced parts, test evidence and warranty scope | Condition label treated as a technical specification |
The commercial boundary also needs a named delivery point. The ICC's Incoterms 2020 overview explains the role of the rules in allocating delivery-related responsibilities. Record the selected rule, edition and named place in the offer, then address ownership, acceptance and warranty expressly in the purchase agreement. A shipping abbreviation is not the complete contract.
Do not let an attractive headline price determine the comparison template. Establish the required scope first, then ask suppliers to identify inclusions and deviations against it. That preserves a usable comparison when a fourth offer arrives with a different packaging arrangement.
Record the date, currency and validity period of each offer. If currencies differ, show the conversion rate and observation date separately from the seller's original price. Keep freight estimates, taxes and other provisional amounts visibly distinct from firm equipment terms. This prevents an updated exchange rate or expired transport estimate from appearing to be a change in the equipment's value.
Maintain a short revision log when the scope changes. A replacement generator, additional spare module or different delivery point can make a revised price reasonable without making the earlier offer misleading. The comparison should explain that change. Archive superseded offers so an old listing or preliminary budget does not re-enter the active shortlist as if it were a current, executable proposal.
Establish which turbine and which output you are buying#
The equipment identity needs more than a family name. Record the turbine variant, generator details, frequency, combustion arrangement and any installed enhancement system. Request the configuration that exists today, with the documentation supporting any proposed upgrade.
Published figures illustrate why rating boundaries matter. GE Vernova's LM6000 factsheet labels its simple-cycle plant figures as net. Siemens Energy's SGT-800 product table labels its output figures as gross. Copying those figures into a price-per-kilowatt comparison does not create an equivalent denominator.
Performance basis required beside each offer#
| Field | Required clarification |
|---|---|
| Output | Gross generator output, package net output or site-net export |
| Reference conditions | Ambient temperature, altitude/pressure and stated losses |
| Fuel | Composition, heating-value basis and delivery conditions |
| Duty | Intended operating profile and permitted operating envelope |
| Configuration | Simple cycle, heat recovery or complete combined cycle |
| Auxiliaries | Which electrical loads are inside the stated boundary |
| Evidence | OEM reference, corrected test result or project estimate |
The LM2500, LM6000 and SGT-800 dossiers are starting points for identification. The receiving project's site conditions and the offered equipment's actual configuration still determine the usable comparison.
An output guarantee should state the measurement boundary and correction procedure. ASME's public description of PTC 22 covers corrected turbine performance quantities. The applicable test plan must identify the contractual conditions, instruments, uncertainty treatment and acceptance criteria; citing the code's name alone does not settle them.
Convert condition labels into a priced work scope#
Unused, used and refurbished describe broad commercial conditions. They do not establish preservation quality, remaining component life or the cost of returning a package to service. An unused unit can still need recommissioning work after storage. A running unit can have substantial maintenance obligations approaching.
Request service records, operating hours and starts, relevant inspection findings, parts history, storage logs and the stated basis for the next maintenance intervention. Review them with a party qualified for the particular equipment. The remaining-life and overhaul guide explains how to structure that evidence request without inventing a universal life calculation.
Create a condition allowance from identified work. If an inspection has not happened, keep the allowance explicitly provisional and agree how the commercial offer changes when findings become available. “Inspection included” should specify who performs it, what is inspected and what report the buyer receives.
Keep three questions separate: what was done previously, what must be done before shipment, and what must be done before site acceptance. A workshop invoice answers the first question only to the extent that it identifies the equipment and work performed. A proposed refurbishment scope does not establish completed refurbishment.
For each material defect or missing record, choose a documented response: obtain evidence, inspect, repair, replace, price an allowance or reject the candidate. This creates a decision trail instead of a vague confidence score. It also tells the seller which unanswered questions are preventing a firm purchase decision.
Compare the complete capital scope#
A useful budget separates the acquisition from the work needed to produce usable power. Include missing auxiliaries, engineering interfaces, transport, installation and acceptance. State what remains outside the estimate, especially land, upstream fuel infrastructure, taxes, financing and grid-related work.
The following example is entirely illustrative. It uses hypothetical nominal 2026 US dollars and assumes both candidates can satisfy the same project requirement. None of the amounts is a SecondWatt listing, observed transaction, supplier quote or current market benchmark.
Illustrative comparison for an assumed 40 MW site-net requirement#
| Cost component | Offer A, million USD | Offer B, million USD |
|---|---|---|
| Quoted equipment | 12.00 | 15.00 |
| Missing package equipment | 3.00 | 0.50 |
| Identified condition work | 2.00 | 0.50 |
| Removal, preservation and transport | 1.00 | 1.50 |
| Defined site installation scope | 5.00 | 5.00 |
| Defined commissioning scope | 0.50 | 0.50 |
| Subtotal | 23.50 | 23.00 |
| Illustrative contingency, 10% of subtotal | 2.35 | 2.30 |
| Total for the stated scope | 25.85 | 25.30 |
The quoted equipment difference is $3 million. After the assumed scope adjustments, Offer B is $550,000 lower for the stated scope. This reversal results from the assumptions, not from a general rule that more expensive packages cost less to install.
The arithmetic is $25.85 million divided by 40,000 kW, or $646.25 per site-net kW, for A. For B, $25.30 million divided by 40,000 kW gives $632.50 per site-net kW. Those normalized results remain hypothetical. They are not a forecast of installed turbine pricing.
$550,000 — the difference between the two complete-scope totals in this illustrative example, despite Offer A's lower equipment price.
The contingency percentage is also an assumption. Replace it with the project's own estimate method and risk allocation. Do not apply a percentage mechanically to hide an unpriced gas connection, unknown overhaul or excluded emissions-control system.
For projects with heat recovery or steam generation, use the simple-cycle versus combined-cycle guide to identify the additional plant boundary before comparing capital totals.
Keep operating economics on a separate comparison#
Capital cost and operating cost answer different questions. A package that requires less initial expenditure may consume more fuel at the intended dispatch pattern. A more efficient reference configuration may lose its apparent advantage when auxiliary loads, operating points or fuel bases differ.
The EPA's combustion-turbine technology chapter describes performance dependencies such as part-load operation and inlet conditions. It is technical background, not a source of current equipment prices or a performance guarantee for a used machine.
For an operating comparison, request heat rate across the expected load profile and express both heat rate and fuel price on a consistent heating-value basis. Calculate fuel at each operating point, then aggregate energy and cost. Do not average percentage efficiencies without accounting for the energy produced at each point.
Consider a second, independent illustration: an assumed output of 40 MW for 8,000 hours gives 320,000 MWh, or 320 million kWh. An assumed heat-rate difference of 500 Btu/kWh therefore corresponds to 160,000 MMBtu annually. At an assumed $6/MMBtu on the matching basis, the difference is $960,000 per year.
That example excludes transport charges, fuel treatment, maintenance differences, degradation, financing and taxes. It does not establish the difference between any two turbine models. Its purpose is to show why a documented operating profile belongs beside the equipment comparison.
Use the gas-turbine fuel-requirements guide to establish delivery pressure, composition and service arrangements before assigning a fuel cost. An equipment offer cannot establish that the utility or pipeline will deliver the required gas at your intended operating date.
Define delivery, acceptance and responsibility#
Give each schedule milestone an observable deliverable. “Available” may mean accessible for inspection, released for sale, ready for removal or ready to ship. None automatically means ready to operate at the receiving site.
Separate document access, inspection completion, equipment release, removal, shipment, site delivery, mechanical completion and performance acceptance. Identify which dates are firm commitments, estimates or dependent on buyer information. Ask what event starts each quoted duration.
An offer should also identify who bears the cost when a supplied component fails the agreed pre-shipment or site test. Record cure options, retest responsibilities and any exclusions in the commercial documents. Engineering acceptance and commercial remedies need to refer to the same equipment boundary.
ASME's PTC 46 overview addresses overall plant performance. That broader scope is relevant when the contract promises a completed plant rather than an isolated turbine result. Select the test boundary to match the deliverable being purchased.
Before comparing delivery promises, review shared dependencies. A gas compressor, controls upgrade or generator repair may sit outside the seller's scope but on the buyer's critical path. Enter those dependencies in the same schedule so a shorter equipment lead time does not conceal a later operating date.
Send a sourcing request suppliers can answer#
A strong RFQ starts with the project requirement and invites documented alternatives. It should leave room for a different model or package arrangement if that alternative satisfies the same operating and acceptance conditions.
Minimum turbine sourcing brief#
| Requirement | Information to provide |
|---|---|
| Power requirement | Required site-net output and expected load profile |
| Electrical system | Frequency, voltage and intended operating arrangement |
| Fuel | Available composition, pressure and delivery status |
| Site | Region, ambient design basis and material constraints |
| Equipment condition | Accepted conditions and required evidence |
| Scope | Equipment-only, delivered package or wider project boundary |
| Programme | Inspection window, delivery target and operating target |
| Acceptance | Required documents, tests and responsible reviewers |
Ask every respondent to return the equipment schedule, deviations, evidence list and exclusions with the commercial offer. Keep unanswered fields visible. A blank field should not become an assumed inclusion when someone transfers the price into a spreadsheet.
Compare the offers only after the project team has classified deviations as acceptable, correctable or disqualifying. Where a correction is feasible, add its documented cost and schedule effect. Where it is not, remove the offer from the active shortlist even if its initial price remains attractive.
SecondWatt connects buyers and sellers as an independent intermediary. To request turbine sourcing, share the required net output, duty, frequency, available fuel, region and target date. Include any existing specification so the response can address the equipment you need rather than a family name alone.
Extend the purchase comparison into operations with our gas turbine fuel-cost calculation guide, including consistent heat-rate and gas-price units.
FAQ: Used gas turbine cost and offer comparison#
How much does a used gas turbine cost?#
There is no defensible single price without a defined model, configuration, condition and scope. Ask for a dated equipment offer, then add identified condition work and project costs. The worked budget in this article is hypothetical and should not be used as a current market range or supplier quotation.
Is price per kilowatt useful?#
Yes, when both numerator and denominator describe equivalent boundaries. State whether the price covers an engine, package or installed scope and whether output is gross, package net or site net. Keep the total price and inclusions visible beside the normalized figure. Otherwise, the ratio can conceal the largest differences between offers.
Does refurbished mean ready to operate?#
It means only what the documented refurbishment scope establishes. Review completed work, component identity, inspection and test results, storage since completion, and warranty terms. Receiving-site engineering and commissioning may remain outside that scope. Ask for those exclusions before comparing a refurbished offer with an operating or unused package.
Should I reject equipment with incomplete records?#
First determine which records are missing and what decisions depend on them. Some gaps may be resolved through inspection, OEM confirmation or additional work. Others can prevent a reliable condition or compatibility assessment. The decision belongs to the technical and commercial review of that candidate, with unresolved exposure priced or explicitly rejected.
Can a seller's delivery date become our operating date?#
Only after the project schedule accounts for the other necessary work. Transport, site preparation, fuel delivery, electrical integration, permits and acceptance may determine the operating date. Ask the seller what its milestone actually means and identify which dependencies sit outside its commitment. Equipment delivery is one milestone within that programme.
What should I send SecondWatt first?#
Send the required site-net output, duty profile, frequency, fuel conditions, region and target dates. State whether you need a complete package or are evaluating an identified unit. A one-page specification and a clear list of accepted alternatives usually provide more useful sourcing direction than a long list of turbine family names.