When the job outgrows diesel — the secondary market for gas turbines, and how it trades.
Above ~2 MW, the economics shift from diesel reciprocating engines to gas turbines: more power per pound, fewer moving parts, and the ability to burn natural gas cleanly at scale. Used turbines trade in a specialized secondary market — decommissioned peaker plants, industrial cogen, oil & gas. This guide maps it.
We buy at facility scale — gensets to turbines. Talk to us →
Jet engines adapted for power (GE LM series, Siemens/Rolls-Royce Trent-derived): 20–100+ MW, fast start (minutes), high efficiency. The premium tier — peaker plants and offshore platforms. Used aeroderivatives trade on hours, cycles, and hot-section condition.
Purpose-built ground turbines (GE Frame series, Siemens): 50–500 MW, slower start, built for decades of baseload. Decommissioned units from plant closures — the buyer needs a crane, a plan, and a grid connection.
Sub-megawatt (30 kW–1 MW, Capstone the known name): cogen, commercial backup, oil & gas. The accessible end of turbines — closer to the genset market in how they trade.
Turbines do not trade like gensets — there is no “trailer it home” tier. The market runs on hours and cycles (turbine life is counted in starts as well as hours — peaker duty is cycle-heavy), hot-section condition (the combustor and turbine blades are the wear items; borescope reports are the inspection), and maintenance agreements (OEM service history from GE/Siemens is the provenance). Decommissioning sources: peaker plants retired by grid changes, industrial cogen replaced by utility power, oil & gas facilities. The buyer pool is utilities, IPPs, and large industrials — a small, serious market where one informed buyer beats ten tire-kickers. Values are entirely case-by-case: model, hours, cycles, hot-section life remaining, and whether the controls and auxiliaries convey with the unit.
The supply side: peaker plants retired as grid batteries and renewables change dispatch economics; industrial cogen shut down when the host facility closes or switches to utility power; oil & gas facilities consolidating or electrifying; export markets absorbing units the domestic grid no longer wants. Decommissioning a turbine is a project — inerting fuel systems, crane picks measured in hundreds of tons, and preservation (fogging, desiccant, nitrogen blankets) if it will sit before resale. A properly preserved turbine with records is a marketable asset; one left open to weather is a parts donor. The preservation photos matter as much as the hour count.
Before money moves on a used turbine: borescope report (hot-section condition — blades, combustor, nozzles; the single most important document), hours and starts (both — peaker duty is cycle-heavy and cycles drive maintenance intervals), OEM service history (GE, Siemens, or qualified independent — what was done, when, by whom), remaining life assessment (hot-section life remaining in hours/starts before the next major), controls version (obsolete control systems can cost more to upgrade than the turbine), and what conveys (auxiliaries, inlet/exhaust, generator, switchgear — the turbine without its package is a project). Turbine deals die on missing paperwork, not on price — the informed buyer’s first request is always the records.
Above ~2 MW, or where fast start, power density, or clean gas-burning at scale matters. Below that, reciprocating gensets win on cost and simplicity.
Hours AND cycles (starts wear turbines), hot-section condition (borescope report), and OEM maintenance history. Same diligence as a genset, higher stakes.
Aeroderivative: jet-engine derived, fast start, 20–100+ MW, peaker duty. Heavy-frame: purpose-built, slower start, 50–500 MW, baseload decades.
Yes — 30 kW to 1 MW for cogen and commercial/industrial use. They trade more like large gensets than like frame turbines.
Large turbine deals are outside what we typically buy, but we review facility-scale power equipment inquiries individually — send the model, hours, cycles, and hot-section status and we will give you a straight answer.
Nameplate (make, model, kW, serial), hour meter, and overall condition. The nameplate is the entire specification.
Call or text 312-880-8174 or use the quote form. Tell us the kW, fuel, hours, and condition.
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