As a supplement to POWER’s in-depth April 2025 feature, Gas Power’s Boom Sparks a Turbine Supply Crunch, we’re publishing the full interview with Mitsubishi Power’s Vice President of Business Development for Emerging Technologies, Peter Sawicki. Conducted in March, this Q&A dives deeper into the supply realities underpinning the story: long lead times for gas turbines, the return of reservation fees, new procurement tactics from hyperscalers and colocators, and Mitsubishi Power’s evolving decarbonization efforts—including combustion testing for 100% hydrogen and ammonia, and integration of carbon capture systems with combined cycle units.
Sawicki speaks candidly about market timelines, customer pain points, and the balancing act between near-term power delivery and long-term climate goals.
Q: What are you seeing in terms of supply constraints for gas turbines today? Are we really back to a reservation fee market?
Peter Sawicki: “Certainly on the large-scale gas turbines, there is a constraint. We’re back to the days of reservation fees similar to the 2000s.
“We are focused on our core customers, which have been our utility-scale customers—repeat customers over the years. So it does make things challenging for power developers, really where you have to put this deposit down very early on a project that may not—with all the development risks associated with the project—for a gas turbine that may come in sometime in the future, right?”
Q: Can you explain how Mitsubishi Power is responding to hyperscaler and colocation demand that’s pushing these procurement constraints?
Peter Sawicki: “Since September, I started in this role leading an Emerging Technologies Group—really looking to understand how we can take the entire fleet of Mitsubishi Power solutions and try to bring them into this market. So, looking at our aeroderivative turbines, our small frame turbines, and of course, the JAC. The market, the way it is, is obviously very robust demand, and we can expect to continue to see that demand.
“If you’re a hyperscaler or a co-locator—you know, data center developer—basically your first path is always going to be utility interconnect, right? It’s the highest reliability, most cost-effective means to do that. That’s why we’re seeing such a challenge, because it’s really all about power now. So we’re trying to address that in other ways.”
Q: Are aeroderivatives a viable stopgap while customers wait for utility interconnects?
Peter Sawicki: “Our aeroderivative team is very active in the space. We have a trailer-mounted aeroderivative gas turbine that we can roll out fairly quickly. The installation is also very quick, so that kind of reduces some of the labor risk associated with it. There’s obviously some technical challenges about locating the gas turbines behind the meter, but we believe we can address that with redundancy on those units—and also implementing a battery energy storage solution with that.”
Q: How else are you adapting technology for behind-the-meter needs?
Peter Sawicki: “We’re looking at the H-25 not just as a bridging solution like the aeros would be, but more kind of a permanent behind-the-meter solution. We’re looking at cogeneration applications, where we would pair that with like an absorption chiller, and provide not only power but chilled water to a data center customer—to take care of not only their energy needs, but also their cooling needs.”
Hydrogen and Ammonia: Testing the Pathway
Q: You’ve done some notable hydrogen demonstrations. Can you talk about where you are with the H-25 turbine and how far the testing has gone?
Peter Sawicki: “We’re doing final validation for the H-25 on the hydrogen testing. We’ve done 100% [hydrogen combustion] last year. There’s to be some additional testing on the 100% before we have the ability to quote this year and on. But we fully expect to have the availability of quote by the end of this year for 100% with the new combustion technology.”
Q: And the H-25 was also the turbine you’ve been testing for ammonia combustion, correct?
Peter Sawicki: “Correct. There’s also a very similar pathway. I’d have to get back to you on the specific dates for the testing on ammonia, but we did do quite a bit of testing on the combustor for the H-25 and had some pretty promising results on that. So we do think with SCR control, we can get to manageable levels with ammonia combustion. And we can follow up with details if you want specifics on what we can say as far as NOx production.”
Q: Zooming out, why is hydrogen so important to your long-term strategy?
Peter Sawicki: “Directionally, we’re still very bullish on decarbonization. While there is a priority for power now, our focus is still very much on decarbonized technology. So—once again—going back to the [research and demonstration (R&D)] on hydrogen, ammonia combustion, carbon capture solutions. This is still very much a core focus for us as we’re looking at the global markets.”
Q: And how do you navigate the economic challenges around these technologies?
Peter Sawicki: “Challenges obviously [are] around economics on these projects, right? We’re basically setting up policy—trying to work with our policymakers to help facilitate some of these technologies. But once again, from a technology provider point of view, [we’re] still very bullish and investing the necessary R&D to move these technologies forward.”
Carbon Capture and the Gas Turbine Combined Cycle Future
Q: Carbon capture remains a major focus in the U.S. and globally, especially in light of regulatory proposals. How is Mitsubishi Power approaching this in the gas turbine context?
Peter Sawicki:
“I don’t believe [carbon capture would be a problem for meeting high loads]. One of the ways we’re uniquely positioned is that under Mitsubishi Heavy Industries design both the gas turbine and the carbon capture solution. So we’re really marrying those two divisions together right now. There’s a lot of work being done to provide kind of a seamless transition for that.
“So we really can be providing kind of one owner—when you’re looking at guarantees, performance guarantees, and even just performance of an execution of the project. We feel pretty bullish on the idea that we can provide a natural gas combined cycle and a carbon capture solution in a fairly seamless way. And I think we’re well-positioned for that only because I think we’re probably the only OEM that can do that in-house.”
Modernizing the Gas Fleet: Services and Retrofit Strategy
Q: There’s still a massive fleet of existing gas power plants. What is Mitsubishi Power’s outlook for the modernization and services business?
Peter Sawicki:
“For sure. I mean, historically, we’ve rolled out upgrades to technology over time as any OEM does. I don’t see that being very dynamic or changing very much as we go forward. We’re always developing technology. We’re always enhancing —whether it be coatings on blades or firing temperature adjustments. We’re always trying to push the envelope and develop technology further.
“So I don’t see any change to that. We’ll continue business as usual—as we have done.”
Q: Are you seeing a big opportunity for retrofits or upgrades right now, especially given the pressure to boost efficiency and reliability?
Peter Sawicki:
“Yes. Today, we’re continuing to build the flexibility on the units because we believe—once again —long term, we’re going to be shaping renewables with a lot of this technology. And so we’re going to continue to work on our flexibility as we move forward.”
Q: There’s talk that data center loads could cause operational issues or wear on turbines. Are you seeing any concerns on that front?
Peter Sawicki:
“With the demand we’re seeing right now from data centers, it is a fairly stable demand, right? So I think capacity—we’re expecting capacity factors to be fairly high on a lot of these new builds, which, as you know, doesn’t really provide that much strain on the gas turbine.”
“What you may have heard is maybe some of these large language models—the transients on some of these models—really can drop quite a bit of load, which can make things challenging from a grid operation point of view, or utility operator point of view. So balancing that will be key. I believe there probably will be some form of energy storage—battery energy storage—to act as a buffer for a lot of these transients, as we’re developing this technology out.”
Batteries, Renewables, and the Strategic Case for Gas
Q: Mitsubishi Power has an energy storage arm—how does battery storage fit into your overall decarbonization and market strategy today?
Peter Sawicki:
“I don’t think the demand for renewables is going away. If anything, the idea that you can match the green exactly when you actually need the power—I think that’s going to be pushed out a few years. It’s all about delivery now.
“So they’ll take power, but they want to match that obviously with renewable energy credits. Renewable PPAs are still very strong. You look at the economics around pairing battery energy storage solutions with green— they look very favorable. So I think you’ll continue to see a pretty robust—especially, I’m based in California— I think we’ll see a very robust build-out of battery energy storage and solar for the foreseeable future.
“Our group, Prevalon [expects] to deliver a lot of battery energy storage solution for the foreseeable future.”
Q: You’ve said this is one of the most exciting times to be in the power industry. Given all the attention on new technologies like SMRs, why do you think gas still makes sense as a long-term proposition?
Peter Sawicki: “Certainty around the technology. This is proven technology. It’s rather low footprint, rather low cost. If you look at modern-day combined cycle—if you install a modern combined cycle onto the grid— the CI [carbon intensity] score from that combined cycle is about 20% lower than the U.S. national grid CI score. So really, by just implementing that gas turbine in the grid, you’re actually doing that benefit to decarbonizing the grid.”
“If we can future-proof those assets and provide pre-combustion and post-combustion carbon capture options, we really show kind of certainty today and a very strong pathway to full decarbonization.”
—Sonal Patel is a POWER senior editor (@sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine).
