Natural Gas

Explainers about natural gas, from production and transport to power generation, gas markets, energy security, emissions and its changing role in the energy transition.

What is a Combined-Cycle Gas Turbine? Two turbines, one flame

Illustrated Combined-Cycle Gas Turbine plant with glowing hot exhaust moving from a gas turbine through heat recovery equipment to a steam turbine producing electricity.

A combined-cycle gas turbine burns natural gas once but extracts electricity in two stages: first from a gas turbine, then from a steam turbine powered by the hot exhaust the first turbine was about to throw away. That simple act of refusing to waste heat is why CCGTs can reach efficiencies around 60%—and why they still matter in a power system filling up with wind, solar, and batteries.