ALBA POWER: The Leading Global Turbine Independent

Alba Power is headquartered in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where its location incorporates a state-of-the-art custom built gas turbine workshop, bolstered by North American headquarters in Houston and Ontario. “Although our main workshop facilities are strategically based to service the North Sea offshore market, Alba Power works on a global level,” explains MD Neil McKenzie.

“We deliver innovative, cost-effective gas turbine solutions worldwide, and over half of our business now services the US and the Middle East. This means that we have an unrivalled ability to be responsive to clients worldwide and allows us to truly state that we are the leading global independent,” he asserts.

It is just one fundamental factor to which he attributes Alba Power’s sustained success. “At Alba Power we have an award-winning global team that is passionate about delivering exceptional customer service. Our expert team prides itself on having a partnership approach when working with our customers and offers outstanding product knowledge and technical ability, whilst delivering exceptional service and 24/7 support.”

EXCELLENCE THROUGHOUT

Outstanding individuals combine to create a collective, totally dedicated to bringing peace of mind, confidence and cost management to the aeroderivative/industrial gas turbine, power turbine and marine tyne turbines, controls and rotating equipment markets through the trusty trio of reliability, responsiveness and accountability. “Alba Power’s success, whilst operating within tough, technical and serious global sectors, is the result of a strong and high-performing team,” McKenzie stresses.

“Alba’s culture and work ethic is built upon understanding our customers’ business needs more than anyone else in the industry, and we always deliver over and above customer expectations.” McKenzie himself embodies the strive for excellence which is evidently at the heart of driving Alba Power. He is intimately familiar with several factions of the business, having worked his way up from an initial position as workshop manager, moving into the role of GM before his current seat as Managing Director.

“I have been in the gas turbine business for over 30 years,” he says, an experience which not only continues to grow but which is routinely recognised. In the 2022 iteration of SME News Magazine’s annual awards McKenzie gained further industry recognition, being lauded as Industrial Engineering Managing Director of the Year.

“Leading a business is no trivial matter, especially considering the challenges faced by companies of all sizes over the last couple of years,” opined Jazmin Collins of SME News. “Indeed, uncertainty remains seemingly ever on the horizon, creating an ever-shifting landscape with little in the way of stability. It’s a time of immense change, regardless of sector or market – a time where great leadership is a crucial foundation for those businesses still achieving success and growth.

“At a time when Managing Directors are being tested and facing obstacles at every turn, it is essential to stop for a moment and recognise those who are distinguishing themselves as extraordinary,” and while clearly appreciative of the award, McKenzie received his plaudits with characteristic humility and a bid to deflect the focus back onto the collective efforts of an extraordinary group over which he presides.

“Individual awards, although nice to receive, are not about me, they are about the full team here at Alba and a recognition of their hard work, dedication and the outstanding quality of work they deliver every day,” he underlined, and it is such dedication and top-level delivery that has enabled Alba Power to grow into a worldwide leader. “We started out with only 12 of us on board here,” McKenzie recounts, “and now we employ over 80 experts committed to leading industry excellence through product knowledge, technical ability and customer service.

“We have an impeccable track record and excellent levels of customer satisfaction and industry referral, testament to our vision and ambition to always exceed our customers’ expectations.

“Our global customer base has been built up through industry track record, exceptional customer relationships and customer referrals, as a result of our continued focus on flexibility and 24-hour service provision. This is achieved through our commitment to pursue operational initiatives that maximise the availability, reliability and cost-effectiveness of its gas turbine support operations, including exchange and lease options.”

COMPREHENSIVE AND RESPONSIVE

While already an obviously global outfit of far-reaching command, being part of the Sulzer Group since the 2019 acquisition has catalysed an even greater reach. Sulzer has been headquartered in Winterthur, Switzerland, since 1834, and is a specialist in pumping solutions and services for rotating equipment, as well as separation, mixing and application technology. “The company’s customers benefit from a network of over 180 production and service sites around the world, and we now have access to these centres as well; this abundance of resources is in turnkey to our own development,” McKenzie details.

“Since day one of the collaboration we have been excited by the synergies, as well as the geographic and technical support to which Alba has been afforded access through this acquisition; it provides a framework upon which we are able to continue the fantastic growth profile we have demonstrated to date and continues to unlock many new and exciting opportunities for us as a member of the Sulzer Group, while remaining an independent service provider.

“We are still able to run very much as the Alba Power that we have always been, but the additional backing of Sulzer and the ability to tap into their engineering and manufacturing makes it a great fit for Alba Power.”

Starting out in 2000 in the business of providing spares for aeroderivative gas turbines, Alba Power’s thoughts quickly turned to how this machinery could be given a longer operational life on a cost-effective basis. This shift in focus was consolidated by the large stock of operational gas turbines in the UK that, as the company astutely observed, was liable to become obsolete long before their time, due to insufficient support from the original equipment manufacturer.

“Still today, our core business is very much in gas turbines,” McKenzie outlines, “which we repair, overhaul and sell,” he adds, a company which remains a pioneer in the development of aeroderivative gas turbines for the world’s energy markets, having sold over 5,200 to more than 500 customers across in excess of 80 countries, accumulating well over 145 million hours of operation.

Alba Power is also a master in the field of marine turbines, especially in their maintenance, as well as in power turbine services where a host of options available to clients span field service, tooling supply and rental, inspection, repair and overhaul. “We provide unrivalled levels of service and cost management globally across our key service areas of RB211, Olympus, Avon, Spey, Tyne and Power Turbines, and we take care of marine engines for several Navies,” summarises McKenzie.

“We are also one of the world’s most responsive providers of repair and support services for industrial control systems, delivering high-level user support regardless of the age, condition or manufacture of the control system being used. In particular, we specialise in maintaining control systems where conventional OEM support is either restricted or no longer available.”

It is this responsiveness that McKenzie deems arguably Alba Power’s greatest asset of all. “It is this that really distances us from the competition,” he states, “and we are known for working incredibly closely with our customers. Quality is obviously a key priority for us, our clients and the industry while without fail, we are fully transparent with our clients. We give them full visibility of projects, and, ultimately, the peace of mind and confidence in Alba Power that will sustain us as a force to be reckoned with in the maintenance, repair and overhaul world.”