It's 'full steam for advanced combined cycles ; Combined-cycle technology has dominated new capacity additions for a decade or more. But manufacturers are not resting on their laurels as they push ahead with enhancements like steam-cooled gas turbines and once-through heat-recovery steam generators

In 2001, an estimated 48.6 GW of new gas-turbine-based powerplants will go into commercial service in North America. Many analysts feel these projections overly optimistic, and predict that as many as 50% of the announced projects will never be developed past the point of an artist's rendering. Main reason: Inadequate supplies of natural gas, the fuel for at least 95% of these projects. Still, if only half of the announced projects are built, gas-turbine sales will continue like a tidal wave hitting the shore.