• Baker Hughes will supply Snam, a leading European energy infrastructure company, with three turbocompressors driven by NovaLT^™12 gas turbine technology, offering fuel flexibility of up to 10% hydrogen blend with natural gas
• Award marks another significant milestone in the decarbonization of Italy’s gas network infrastructure and builds on the long-standing collaboration between the two companies

Baker Hughes , an energy technology company, announced Wednesday it was awarded a contract to be booked in the first quarter of 2024 from Snam, Europe’s leading operator in natural gas transportation, storage and regasification, to provide three NovaLT™12 gas turbine driven compressor trains for a new gas compressor station in Sulmona (Italy).

The station is an integral part of Adriatic Line, a Snam pipeline project, whose first phase was included in Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) as part of the REpowerEU Plan and therefore deemed eligible to be financed. The Adriatic Line entails the construction of a 425 km long, hydrogen-ready pipeline to allow the transport of additional energy supplies from Azerbaijan, Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean region to northern Europe.

The adoption of Baker Hughes NovaLT^™12 turbines, which provide the option to run on 100% natural gas or hydrogen blends up to 10%, represents a significant milestone in decarbonizing the Italian gas network infrastructure and aligns with Snam’s strategy to achieve carbon neutrality on direct emissions by 2040.

The contract, which was awarded to Baker Hughes following a public tender, builds on a long-standing collaboration between the two companies that has involved the successful testing, in 2020, of the world’s first “hybrid” hydrogen turbine designed for a gas network, and the installation of a NovaLT^™12 turbine at Snam’s Istrana, Italy, site in November 2022.

“This milestone in our long-standing collaboration with Snam demonstrates that the energy transition requires continuous partnership. Together, we are innovating and delivering critical world-firsts for the decarbonization of gas networks,” said Ganesh Ramaswamy, executive vice president, Industrial & Energy Technology at Baker Hughes. “Our work with customers and partners is part of our commitment to developing innovative technology solutions, such as the NovaLT^™12, that enable the decarbonization of energy ecosystems and the creation of the hydrogen economy while continuing to support the need for an affordable and secure energy supply.”

In January 2024, Baker Hughes shared an update on several milestones on some of its most significant and active hydrogen projects, including: a new hydrogen testing facility in Florence, Italy; the completed manufacturing and testing of its NovaLT™16 hydrogen turbines for the Air Products Net-Zero Hydrogen Energy Complex in Edmonton, Canada; and progress on another key Air Products project with the delivery of the first two trains of advanced hydrogen compression solutions for the NEOM project in Saudi Arabia, the largest green hydrogen project in the world.

Baker Hughes’ advanced technologies and solutions serve the entire hydrogen value chain, from production to transportation and utilization. The company’s experience in hydrogen projects dates to the 1910s, and its portfolio includes advanced compressors, gas turbines, valves, centrifugal pumps, non-metallic pipes, hydrogen sensors, monitoring and diagnostics including inspection solutions for hydrogen embrittlement in production and storage, as well as clean power solutions to produce power with hydrogen and hydrogen blends.