Steam Turbine Generator Suppliers

A steam turbine generator, or turbo-generator, makes the ship's electrical power by expanding boiler steam through a turbine that drives an alternator. It does one of two jobs. On steam-propelled ships, mainly the older LNG carriers and some large naval auxiliaries, the same boiler plant that turns the main turbine also runs one or more turbo-generators for the ship's electrical load. On modern two-stroke diesel ships it appears as the heart of a waste heat recovery system, taking steam raised from the main engine's exhaust and turning otherwise wasted heat into electricity. Steam turbine generator suppliers handle the whole set for both roles, the turbine, alternator, gearbox, condenser, and control system, across newbuild specification and retrofit replacement.

Two Jobs: LNG Carrier Power and Waste Heat Recovery

The two duties look similar on paper but come from very different plant:

• Primary generation on steam ships - on a steam turbine LNG carrier the boilers feed turbo-generators, usually two in parallel, that carry the whole electrical service at 440 volts or 6.6 kilovolts, commonly in the region of 1,500 to 4,500 kilowatts each and reaching well above that on the largest legacy ships.
• Waste heat recovery - on a two-stroke diesel ship the exhaust gas raises steam that drives a smaller turbo-generator, commonly a few hundred kilowatts up to around 2,500, feeding the bus and unloading the diesel generators.

The economic case for the waste heat set is strongest on long deep-sea legs, where the main engine runs steady at its design power for days at a time and the recovered electricity can reach roughly three to six percent of the propulsion energy, cutting the fuel burned in the auxiliary engines. The propulsion turbine that shares the LNG carrier's boiler plant is a separate machine, covered by marine steam turbine engine suppliers.

How a Waste Heat Set Is Sized

A waste heat turbo-generator is matched to the exhaust the main engine produces. A slow-speed two-stroke gives up exhaust gas at roughly 250 to 350 degrees Celsius at high mass flow, which suits a heat recovery boiler raising steam at about 7 to 15 bar. That steam drives the turbine at high speed, often several thousand up to around 12,000 rpm on the smaller units, geared down to alternator speed at 1,500 or 1,800 rpm for 50 or 60 hertz. On the largest container ships and bulk carriers the recovery plant combines an exhaust gas economiser raising steam for the turbo-generator with a power turbine taking a slice of the exhaust directly, coupled to a shaft generator, which lifts the total energy recovered. Getting the boiler, turbine, and generator sized as one plant is what decides how much power the system actually returns in service.

What Is in the Package

A turbo-generator is bought as a package rather than a single machine. It runs from the turbine rotor and its casing through a reduction gearbox that brings the high turbine speed down to alternator speed, the alternator itself, the condenser that turns the exhaust steam back to feed water, and the control and electrical protection that lets the set synchronise and share load with the diesel generators through the power management system. On a waste heat installation the heat recovery boiler, the exhaust gas ducting, and the feed system come with it, which is why a retrofit is a system project rather than a straight swap.

The Brand Landscape

The marine turbo-generator market is concentrated around a handful of specialist makers, split roughly between the sets fitted on steam ships and the packages built for waste heat recovery:

• Shinko Industries - the largest share of installed marine sets, its SST range spanning roughly 200 to 5,000 kilowatts across LNG carriers, waste heat installations, and large bulk carriers.
• Kawasaki Heavy Industries - the K-series on LNG carrier and combined-cycle work.
• Mitsubishi Heavy Industries - the MR-series on the ships it builds.
• MAN Energy Solutions - the Power-Pac and power take-in and take-out arrangements on the waste heat side.
• Siemens Energy, Dresser-Rand, ABB, and Wartsila - integrated waste heat recovery packages that include the turbine generator scope.

Output runs from a couple of hundred kilowatts on a small retrofit up to around 8,000 kilowatts on the largest legacy LNG carriers. Because the turbine, gearbox, and alternator are matched to the boiler's steam conditions and the ship's electrical system, the maker of the set already fitted usually decides the sensible source.

Class and Compliance

A turbo-generator is class-approved electrical and steam machinery, built and certified to the IACS requirements for rotating electrical machines, machinery, and steam plant, to SOLAS Chapter II-1 for the machinery space, and to IEC 60092 for the electrical installation, with the IGC Code adding its own requirements on gas carriers. IACS member societies such as DNV, ABS, Lloyd's Register, Bureau Veritas, RINA, ClassNK, KR, and CCS issue the type approval, while non-IACS bodies cover particular flag administrations. A replacement set or a major assembly is specified so that this certification carries through, since a machine that cannot be classed cannot be run.

Buying: New, Retrofit, or Overhaul

The route depends on why the set is being bought. A new machine direct from the OEM ships into a newbuild order on a long lead time, commonly in the region of 14 to 24 months including the factory acceptance test and commissioning. A waste heat retrofit runs through the WHRS integrators and takes less, often around 8 to 14 months for the boiler, turbine, generator, and bus integration as one package. Much of the ongoing work, though, is not a new machine at all but overhaul: rotor refurbishment, alternator rewind, blade renewal, and condenser retubing through OEM service centres and class-approved repair shops. The reclaimed and exchange market is thin here, because a turbo-generator is closely matched to its boiler and electrical system and does not transfer easily between ships.

What to Verify Before You Buy

A few checks decide whether a supplier fits a machine this specific:

• Brand authorisation matched to the installed set - the rotor, blading, and spares route follow the original equipment, so a Shinko SST, Kawasaki K-series, Mitsubishi MR, or MAN Power-Pac set points to its own procurement channel.
• Power, voltage, and frequency match - the kilowatt output, 440 volts or 6.6 kilovolts, 50 or 60 hertz, and the ability to synchronise and share load under the ship's power management system.
• WHRS integration scope on a retrofit - the heat recovery boiler, turbine, generator, gearbox, control system, exhaust ducting, and bus tie quoted as one documented package rather than separate supplies.
• Class type approval - IACS or non-IACS recognition matched to the ship's registry, with IGC Code compliance on a gas carrier.
• Lead-time alignment - roughly 8 to 14 months for a waste heat retrofit and 14 to 24 months for a newbuild set, matched to the drydock or delivery window.
• Overhaul reach - for a set kept rather than replaced, the rotor refurbishment, alternator rewind, and condenser retubing that keep an existing machine in class.

Compare the steam turbine generator suppliers below by maker, by power output and voltage against the ship's electrical system, and by whether you are buying for a newbuild, a waste heat retrofit, or a like-for-like replacement, and where a fitted set needs only a component, those are steam turbine generator spare parts.