In the world of power generation there is a significant number of mature frame gas turbines that are the backbone for industrial settings and power generation. There are several well-established user groups that support owner/operators by sharing lessons learned, technical knowledge, and troubleshooting support. It’s critical that these groups maintain a strong presence in the industry to support and benefit both the users and suppliers that keep the equipment running. Combine that with a changing industry, a pandemic, shrinking budgets, and an aging workforce you now have challenges in keeping influential groups afloat.
With any challenge there is opportunity and that’s why Power Users formed the Legacy Turbine Users Group. Currently, LTUG comprises the 7EA, Frame 6B, and Frame 5 Users Groups. In combining forces, the future for these organizations will be stronger and have opportunity to grow. Each group maintains an independent steering committee and user forum hosted by Power Users, but when conducting a technical conference, the groups will be joining together under one roof, each in its own meeting room. Power Users believes this combined group provides many benefits to the user community and suppliers.
The first LTUG technical conference will be co-located with Power Users’ Combined Conference this coming August. For the first time, companies with a mixed fleet of these turbine types will be able to travel to one conference to gain the benefit of three. Additionally, companies that may not have such diverse fleets will be able to leverage the knowledge presented by these three groups with one trip. This addresses some of the challenges we are seeing that will likely to continue. Now companies can save on travel costs by attending an all-in-one conference and not have to choose which meeting to miss in a given year. All this without losing the benefit of training, sharing of lessons learned, building valuable networks, and meeting the supplier network that supports these gas turbines.
Suppliers also benefit from this merger of user groups. Their budgets are equally stretched, and the pandemic has made it challenging to share their services and build networks. The LTUG conference provides access to a diverse group of users that utilize a similar vendor base for support, parts, and services. This efficiency provides a budget-friendly opportunity for suppliers to build valuable connections to sell services and parts.
Our inaugural LTUG conference will be held in beautiful San Antonio (Tex), August 29 through September 1 (www.powerusers.org). Plan now to participate in this seminal event to strengthen your knowledge, build your network, share your experience, and find a supplier that can help solve problems your facility is facing.
Jake English, Duke Energy
Phyllis Gassert, Talen Energy
Sam Graham, Tenaska
Edward Maggio, TVA
Ben Meissner, Cogentrix
Peter So, Calpine
