Combined Cycle Gas Turbines (CCGT)
The absolute peak of fossil fuel efficiency.
Explore this event on the interactive timeline →Before the transition to renewables, the energy grid required massive efficiency improvements. The Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) revolutionized power generation by capturing the exhaust heat from a gas turbine to boil water and spin a second steam turbine.
Key Numbers
- Efficiency (Standard Coal)
- ~33%
- Efficiency (CCGT Peak)
- ~64%
Verified Facts
- Traditional coal or simple gas plants waste a massive amount of energy as heat, operating at roughly 33% efficiency.
- By combining two cycles (gas and steam), CCGT plants achieved thermal efficiencies above 60%, drastically lowering the cost of electricity and halving carbon emissions compared to coal.
- This technology bridged the gap to the Singularity, providing the cheap, stable electrical baseload needed to power the internet and early cloud computing booms while solar and batteries were still maturing.