Baker Hughes, a leading energy technology company, has announced that it has secured a contract set for the first quarter of 2024 from Snam, Europe’s premier operator in natural gas transportation, storage, and regasification.

The agreement entails the provision of three cutting-edge NovaLT™12 gas turbine driven compressor trains for a new gas compressor station in Sulmona, Italy.

The station forms a vital part of the Adriatic Line, a Snam pipeline project, with its first phase 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 project involves the construction of a 425 km hydrogen-ready pipeline, facilitating the transportation of additional energy supplies from Azerbaijan, Africa, and the Eastern Mediterranean to northern Europe.

By opting for Baker Hughes’ NovaLT™12 turbines, capable of running on 100% natural gas or hydrogen blends up to 10%, Snam is poised to spearhead the decarbonization of Italy’s gas network infrastructure, aligned with Snam’s objective of achieving carbon neutrality in 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, the company stated in a press release.

“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,” he continued.