Siemens Energy has installed and commissioned an SGT-800 Industrial Demonstrator Turbine at a gas-fired power plant at the Marl Chemical Park in Germany. The demonstrator gas turbine allows Siemens Energy to validate new gas turbine technologies and components under real operating conditions in the commercial plant environment. The machine will operate for four years, providing electrical power and process steam to the chemical industry at the site while also enabling continuous monitoring and planned component changes throughout the validation period. This approach is designed to support long-term, industrial-scale validation of advanced materials, components, and manufacturing methods, while keeping operational risk for the plant low.
The power plant is operated by SYNEQT, a wholly owned subsidiary of Evonik Industries, and a leading industrial infrastructure and energy services provider operating one of Germanyโs largest chemical park sites, with four SGT-800 units installed. The Siemens Energy owned Industrial Demonstrator Turbine has replaced one of the four operational units. The original gas turbine remains reserved on site, helping to safeguard plant availability during validation campaigns. Such validation under operating conditions complements other in-house testing processes, to ensure new products meet specifications and deliver consistent performance. Key components for validation include blades, vanes, and burners. Because the Industrial Demonstrator Turbine operates within a multi-unit plant setup, technical risks can be limited to the turbine while business interruption risk is mitigated through built-in redundancy.
The concept enables long-term validation of new technologies, including gas turbine parts produced by additive manufacturing, as well as advanced materials and coatings directly in a commercial plant environment. Following earlier engineering, rig and component-level validation, continuous operation over thousands of hours can provide the operating experience and confidence needed to support qualification of next-generation gas turbine component design. These innovations can contribute to improvements in efficiency, reliability, manufacturability, and lifecycle performance across the gas turbine fleet.
Vanessa Bauch, Senior Vice President for Gas Services Distributed at Siemens Energy, said: โThe industrial demonstrator engine enables us to validate innovative gas turbine technologies under real-world operating conditions. We thoroughly test all new components in our manufacturing facilities and dedicated test centers, while leveraging advanced simulation tools to anticipate their operational performance. However, for long-term validation under actual load and performance conditions, partnerships with customers such as SYNEQT are invaluable.โ
โOpen and trusted cooperation between OEMs and operators is essential to bring innovative solutions into the power generation industry faster. This project with Siemens Energy shows how technology validation and reliable plant operation can go hand in handโ, added Lorena Piles Tortajada, Plant Manager at SYNEQT.
