Which Manufacturers Are Leading?
Leadership in the steam-turbine market depends on how performance is measured. Rankings based on the number of turbines sold differ significantly from rankings based on total generating capacity.
Siemens Energy led the global market by unit count in 2025, recording 132 orders—approximately 22.4% of all turbines ordered worldwide. This exceeded the combined orders of the next two manufacturers. Triveni Turbine ranked second with 77 units, representing 13.1% of global orders.
The picture changes when measured by megawatts. Siemens Energy’s orders totaled 8,994 MW, or 7.8% of ordered capacity, while Triveni’s 913 MW represented less than 1%.
Chinese manufacturers dominated the high-capacity market:
- Harbin Steam Turbine: 21,430 MW, or 18.5%
- Shanghai Turbine: 20,677 MW, or 17.9%
- Dongfang Turbine: 13,290 MW, or 11.5%
Together, these three manufacturers secured 47.9% of the steam-turbine capacity ordered globally in 2025. Their combined 115 units represented only 19.6% of total unit orders, demonstrating their concentration in larger machines.
GE Vernova received orders for 29 units totaling 9,725 MW. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries followed closely with 35 units totaling 9,688 MW. Each company accounted for approximately 8.4% of ordered capacity.
Two Different Markets Under One Industry
The contrast between unit count and total capacity reflects the structure of the steam-turbine business.
Gas-turbine combined-cycle projects are among the fastest-growing applications, and many require steam turbines rated below 150 MW. At the same time, strong power-generation demand has placed pressure on manufacturing capacity. This has allowed smaller and second-tier manufacturers to compete for lower-output projects.
In 2025, steam turbines rated at 150 MW and above represented only 38.3% of ordered units but delivered 90.8% of ordered capacity.
The 600–800 MW category alone included 60 turbines totaling 39,661 MW—34.3% of global capacity. Another 20 turbines rated above 1,000 MW accounted for 19.4%.
By comparison, turbines below 150 MW represented 363 machines, or 61.7% of all orders, but only 9.2% of ordered capacity.
The market therefore contains two distinct commercial segments: a high-volume market for smaller industrial and combined-cycle units, and a lower-volume market for very large utility machines.
Principal Market Drivers
Four major factors are expected to shape the steam-turbine market:
- Electricity demand from artificial intelligence and data centers
- Expansion of gas-fired combined-cycle generation
- Rising new-equipment prices
- OEM intellectual property and technical barriers to entry
Data Centers and Artificial Intelligence
Rapid development of AI infrastructure, data centers, cryptocurrency operations and other electricity-intensive facilities is increasing global power demand.
This growth is strengthening the outlook across multiple power-generation sectors, particularly for turbines above 100 MW. Between 2024 and 2025, activity in this segment reportedly increased approximately fiftyfold.
Gas-Fired Combined-Cycle Generation
The expansion of the gas-turbine market is directly supporting demand for steam turbines. Every combined-cycle power block requires a bottoming steam cycle to recover exhaust heat and improve overall plant efficiency.
Steam-turbine orders for combined-cycle applications doubled during 2025, while ordered capacity increased by 128%. Combined cycle’s share of total unit orders rose from less than 11% to 19.4%.
As gas-turbine order books expanded during the second half of the decade, orders for the associated steam turbines followed.
New-Equipment Pricing
Inflation, supply-chain pressures and strong equipment demand have increased new-unit prices. The article expects pricing to continue rising steadily during the next five years.
Long manufacturing lead times could also encourage developers to secure equipment earlier in the project cycle or consider stored, surplus and relocation packages.
Intellectual Property and Market Entry
Entering the steam-turbine market is generally easier than entering the gas-turbine market. However, newer technologies and stronger OEM intellectual-property protections are increasing the difficulty.
Independent service providers may consequently focus more heavily on older turbine fleets, where proprietary restrictions are less severe. Strong demand also creates commercial opportunities for OEMs and suppliers offering proven legacy technologies.
Application-Market Overview
Thermal renewable applications remained the largest category by unit count in 2025, with 196 turbines representing 33.3% of orders. However, these units accounted for only 3.5% of ordered capacity because biomass, waste-to-energy and geothermal installations generally use smaller turbines.
Thermal renewable orders increased from 114 units in 2012 to a peak of 293 in 2021 before declining to the high-100 range.
Industrial applications followed the opposite pattern. Orders fell from 270 units in 2012 to 153 units in 2021, then recovered to 194 units in 2025.
Combined-cycle applications accounted for 114 turbines and 27,485 MW during 2025. Conventional utility fossil-fuel projects added another 52 units totaling 13,566 MW.
Mechanical-drive applications declined to only 15 units. This continues a trend lasting more than a decade, as large variable-speed electric motors increasingly replace steam turbines in new projects.
Nuclear power recorded meaningful growth. Orders increased from six units totaling 6,880 MW in 2024 to 17 units totaling 11,310 MW in 2025. Nuclear therefore accounted for only 2.9% of ordered units but 9.8% of total capacity.
Regional Distribution of Orders
North America and Europe gained considerable market share during 2025. Russia more than doubled its number of turbine orders, although its overall share remained relatively small. The Middle East, South America and Africa experienced declines.
Asia-Pacific continued to represent the largest regional market, but its share of global unit orders fell from 67% to 57.5%.
This decline was part of a longer trend. Asia-Pacific steam-turbine orders peaked in 2021 and subsequently declined every year, producing a cumulative reduction of approximately 27% over four years.
Global order volume remained relatively stable during the same period, meaning demand shifted toward other regions—particularly North America and Europe.
North American electricity demand is now growing faster than available supply. Utilities, data-center developers and independent power producers are competing to bring new capacity online within increasingly demanding schedules. This mirrors the conditions already reshaping the global gas-turbine market.
Competitive Outlook
Dora Partners forecasts approximately $430.1 billion in new steam-turbine orders during the coming decade. Nearly half of that value is expected to go to Shanghai Turbine, Harbin and Dongfang.
Siemens Energy is forecast to remain the leading manufacturer outside China, slightly ahead of GE Vernova and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Arabelle Solutions, the nuclear steam-turbine business sold by GE Vernova to EDF in May 2024, maintains a strong position in the nuclear sector.
Potential ownership changes involving Siemens Energy’s steam-turbine business could reshape the Western supplier landscape. Any purchaser would acquire a business receiving record order volumes at a time when the industry is determining whether the 2025 rebound represents a short-term cycle or a lasting structural expansion.
For Western manufacturers, the central issue is not simply the number of turbines sold, but their position in high-value projects. Siemens Energy leads in unit count but is forecast to capture approximately 11% of market value. The three leading Chinese manufacturers are expected to secure almost half of forecast value with roughly one-fifth of ordered units.
The outcome will depend largely on where major utility-scale generating capacity is developed during the next decade.
Ten-Year Forecast
Dora Partners projects new-unit order value of approximately $46.2 billion in 2026, increasing to a peak of $51 billion in 2027 before gradually declining.
Unit orders are also expected to peak in 2027 and then trend downward through 2035, eventually falling below present levels.
Industrial applications are forecast to contribute the largest share of orders, followed by:
- Conventional utility fossil generation
- Gas-fired combined cycle
- Thermal renewable projects
- Nuclear power
- Mechanical-drive applications
The next 24 months could be especially important. If steam-turbine lead times and pricing follow the pattern established in the gas-turbine market, much of the order book covering the projected peak may be committed before that peak occurs.
For manufacturers, investors and project developers, decisions made during this period could establish market positions for the remainder of the decade.