As demand grows and new generation takes longer to bring online, upgrades to existing assets are becoming an increasingly important path to faster capacity, better performance and improved reliability. This topic explores the planning and execution of upgrade strategies that help owner-operators increase output, improve efficiency, modernize plant systems and get more value from existing sites and infrastructure. The emphasis is on practical, executable upgrades that fit real operating schedules, reduce development hurdles and help assets respond to changing market and system needs.

Power Systems & Upgrades Educational Opportunities 

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11:15 AM
  1. 251B
    50 mins
    With new combined-cycle lead times stretching to 2029 and beyond, the strategic value of optimizing existing gas turbine assets has never been more direct. This session presents an updated fleet-wide …
  2. O&M and Reliability Zone - Exhibit Hall Booth 4455
    50 mins
    Steam boilers were designed for steady baseload operation. As grid conditions push thermal fleets toward more frequent starts, deeper turndowns and aggressive cycling, the operating envelope shifts we …
1:30 PM
  1. 251B
    50 mins
    AI data center load profiles, characterized by rapid, large-magnitude transients, create subsynchronous torsional interaction risks for nearby synchronous generators that conventional interconnection …
2:30 PM
  1. 251B
    50 mins
    As inverter-based resources displace synchronous generation, the inertia and reactive power that large rotating machines provided are declining faster than most grid operators planned for. Synchronous …
10:15 AM
  1. Thermal & Nuclear Zone - Exhibit Hall Booth 1238
    50 mins
    Not all megawatts are equal. For combustion turbine peaking units, location is the primary driver of economic performance, and operational flexibility determines how much of that location advantage is …
11:15 AM
  1. Thermal & Nuclear Zone - Exhibit Hall Booth 1238
    50 mins
    Grid operators are asking combined-cycle and simple-cycle gas turbines to turn down deeper and more frequently than their original designs anticipated. Emissions-compliant operation at lower loads is …
1:30 PM
  1. Data Center & New Demand Zone - Exhibit Hall Booth 5004
    50 mins
    Load growth from data centers and AI infrastructure is compressing the timeline between resource planning decisions and the capacity the grid actually needs. For generation owner-operators managing ex …
2:30 PM
  1. O&M and Reliability Zone - Exhibit Hall Booth 4455
    50 mins
    DTE Electric has operated mobile restoration assets as a formal component of its N-1 contingency planning since 2002, deploying mobile generators, mobile ISO transformer trailers and mobile pole ISO t …
9:30 AM
  1. 250E
    50 mins
    Retired coal sites often come with something new generation sites do not: existing transmission interconnection, water systems, fuel infrastructure and balance-of-plant assets that can materially comp …
10:30 AM
  1. 250C
    50 mins
    Supercritical CO₂ power cycles have been in development for two decades. They are now approaching commercial deployment, and the applications relevant to the POWERGEN audience are specific: gas turbin …
11:30 AM
  1. Thermal & Nuclear Zone - Exhibit Hall Booth 1238
    50 mins
    The U.S. has more than 134 GW of installed simple-cycle gas turbine capacity. Most of it was never paired with a steam bottoming cycle for straightforward reasons: high capital cost, large footprint, …

Other Power Systems & Upgrades News

Visit Our Official Media Partner, Factor This Power Engineering, for more Power Systems & Upgrades News

Army offers up underutilized military land to private developers for new power generation and storage

The U.S. Army selected three private developers, including Ameresco, Indelible-Bloom, and Frontier Power USA, to build power generation projects on military bases, enhancing energy resilience.
September 25, 2026

The cloud needs an air permit

Data centers are discovering that diesel backup generators trigger some of the most complex air permitting requirements in environmental law.
September 17, 2026

Baker Hughes gas turbines to support up to 1.8 GW of behind-the-meter data center power

Kodiak Gas Services and Baker Hughes have formed a multi-year agreement for power generation solutions to enhance Kodiak's energy infrastructure, aiming for 1.8 GW capacity by 2030.
July 10, 2026

Brookfield, Bloom Energy expand partnership to $25 billion framework for onsite data center power

Bloom Energy and Brookfield expanded their partnership to finance AI infrastructure projects, increasing funding from $5 billion to $25 billion, enhancing global fuel cell deployment.
July 09, 2026

 

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