China has shipped its first independently developed large F-class gas turbine for overseas operation to Kazakhstan, according to infohub.kz.
The 50 MW G50 turbine, made by Dongfang Turbine Co., Ltd., was dispatched from Deyang in Sichuan Province, southwest China. The delivery is part of a contract signed in November 2025, which provides for the supply of three G50 units to Kazakhstan for a power generation project.
According to Xinhua News Agency, this is the first overseas order for a Chinese-developed large F-class gas turbine. Li He, deputy general manager of Dongfang Turbine, said the company will provide comprehensive service support for the equipment throughout its entire service life. Customized components will also be developed for the project, including air intake systems and rotor systems.
Large gas turbines are used for power generation and as industrial drives. F-class turbines are among the most common models worldwide and operate at temperatures around 1400 degrees Celsius. Their development requires expertise in more than 100 technological fields, including heat-resistant alloys, precision casting, and aerodynamics.
In recent years, China has been expanding production of its own heavy-duty gas turbines. According to Fang Yu, head of the national laboratory for clean and efficient turbine power equipment at Dongfang Turbine, the maximum capacity of such Chinese models has already reached 550 MW.
The delivery comes amid growing global demand for gas turbines. Xinhua attributes this to increased electricity consumption by data centers for artificial intelligence and changes in the global energy structure. Feng Zhenping, a professor at Xi'an Jiaotong University, noted that developed supply chains, fast delivery times, and price competitiveness could strengthen the position of Chinese turbine manufacturers in the international market.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that Kazakhstan had abandoned the purchase of Russian turbines and generators for the third power unit of Ekibastuz GRES-2 and chose equipment from China's Harbin Electric International. This reduced the project cost by more than 250 billion tenge, from 650 billion to 400 billion tenge. The contract for the supply of the turbine and generator was signed in September 2025. The project was previously planned with Russian companies, but financing did not materialize and delivery dates were delayed.