2026 Conference Sessions

One Year Perspective: Next Steps for Advancing Gas Turbine Technology

January 22, 2026

10:30 AM - 11:15 AM

302A

All About the Gas Turbine

The U.S. is facing unprecedented electricity demand growth over the next decade, putting new pressure on supply chains and generation assets. As the backbone of the grid, dispatchable gas turbines will remain essential for reliability and resilience, but today’s RTO market conditions demand operational profiles far different from those envisioned when many units were first built. Meeting the dual challenge of building new plants and sustaining the existing fleet requires a fresh look at turbine technology development and application. In this session, John Crane from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory will outline how rising demand, market shifts and policy priorities are shaping DOE’s gas turbine strategy—and what that means for the future of American energy security and competitiveness.

Session Presentation

POWERGEN has been really helpful in identifying the industry scale of what’s going on behind the scenes, and how that affects each and every one of us across different divisions, levels, and inputs in the industry itself [...] That’s something not everybody gets to experience at other conferences.

Sarah White

Associate Electric Co-op, Inc.

The most valuable part of POWERGEN is networking with peers, walking the exhibit floor, and seeing all the activity and energy across the industry. For me, the level of engagement is a strong indication that the future of this industry is in a good place, and I’m excited to be representing this event.

Raj Katamreddy

Vistra

I love the networking. Everyone who’s part of POWERGEN is here, and it’s great to collaborate, meet new vendors in the market, see who’s doing what, and learn about the projects that are happening. It’s a great place for intel.

Sarah Hoelzen

The Williams Companies, Inc

POWERGEN is really important to us. It's an ideal opportunity to come meet existing customers and partners, meet new customers and partners, and showcase the new products that we bring to market.

Sarah Nicholls

STAMFORD | AVK

POWERGEN gives us the opportunity to meet prospective engineering firms, EPCs, and customers, and to share insight into our capabilities in manufacturing centrifugal pumps and supporting the nuclear industry.

Santosh KulkarnI

ANDRITZ

POWERGEN allows us to connect with all of our peers and it brings in folks that are maybe not quite familiar with everything in power, and they get to come to one place and see it all in one place and make new connections.

Sammy Haggar

Wildcat Power Gen