Baker Hughes meeting in Florence highlights global energy transition

More than 2,500 energy executives, policymakers and industry experts gathered in Florence this week for the 27th Annual Meeting of Baker Hughes, turning the city into a temporary hub for discussions on energy security, decarbonisation and industrial investment.

The event combined global announcements with a strong local dimension, underlining the group’s growing presence in Tuscany and in Italy.

New investments and industrial commitments in Florence

During the meeting, Baker Hughes executives reiterated the company’s long-term commitment to Italy, and particularly to Florence, where the group operates its historic Nuovo Pignone industrial site.

The company recently confirmed a €300 million investment plan in Italy and inaugurated a new maintenance workshop in Florence dedicated to NovaLT gas turbines, a move aimed at supporting the next generation of high-efficiency machines entering service worldwide.

According to company representatives, the expansion is designed to strengthen Florence’s role as a strategic manufacturing and service hub within Baker Hughes’ global operations, with implications for skilled employment and long-term industrial activity in the area.

Energy storage: agreement with Hydrostor

One of the key announcements made in Florence concerned a new agreement between Baker Hughes and Hydrostor, a Canadian firm specialising in long-duration energy storage.
The deal includes an equity investment by Baker Hughes and technology orders for up to 1.4 gigawatts of power generation and compression equipment for Hydrostor’s flagship projects.

The partnership focuses on advanced compressed air energy storage (A-CAES), a technology designed to store energy for long periods and help stabilise electricity grids under growing pressure from rising demand and variable renewable sources.

Clean ammonia and low-carbon fertilisers in the US

Another major contract announced at the Florence meeting involves the construction of one of the first large-scale low-carbon ammonia plants in the United States.

Baker Hughes will supply key compression and well-construction technologies for a facility being developed by Wabash Valley Resources in Indiana, aimed at producing fertilisers with significantly lower carbon emissions.

Once operational, the plant is expected to produce around 500,000 tonnes of ammonia per year while capturing and permanently storing more than 1.6 million tonnes of CO₂ annually, linking energy transition technologies with agricultural supply chains.

Gas, LNG and geothermal in the global energy mix

Opening the conference, Baker Hughes chief executive Lorenzo Simonelli argued that global energy demand continues to grow and requires a pragmatic approach involving all available sources.

He stressed the role of natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) as long-term components of the energy mix, alongside expanding opportunities in geothermal energy, including enhanced geothermal systems that can operate at lower temperatures and in a wider range of locations.

Regulatory frameworks and permitting processes were also highlighted as critical factors in enabling new industrial and energy projects.

Energy security, geopolitics and the role of producers

Broader geopolitical and market issues were addressed by Nawaf Saud Al-Sabah, chief executive of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, who emphasised the continued centrality of oil in the global energy system for decades to come.

He pointed to the relatively low carbon intensity of Gulf oil production and underlined the importance of maintaining spare capacity to ensure market stability in times of geopolitical tension.

Al-Sabah also described energy as an inherently globalised sector, where interdependence between producers, refiners and consumers remains the norm despite political pressures towards fragmentation.

The Italian and European perspective

Italian energy infrastructure was another recurring theme at the Florence meeting.
The chief executive of Snam discussed the need for Italy to diversify gas supply sources, the strategic role of LNG terminals such as the floating regasification unit in Piombino, and the broader challenge of energy costs in Europe.

Speakers warned that Europe’s energy system remains vulnerable, citing recent instability episodes, and called for a balanced mix of energy vectors to guarantee security, affordability and resilience.

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