Tenaris: Powering the Future with Advanced Steel Technology

Tenaris, a global leader in steel pipe manufacturing, has reaffirmed its pivotal role in evolving power generation infrastructure. At the recent Hydrogen Expo 2025, held in Piacenza, Italy, the company highlighted its advanced tubular steel solutions that combine durability, efficiency, and sustainability. These solutions are critical for meeting the increasingly rigorous demands of modern energy systems, including gas-fired power plants and emerging hydrogen applications.

The company’s focus on innovation is particularly relevant as power plants face pressure to increase efficiency, lower emissions, and accommodate new fuels. Tenaris’s products are designed to withstand extreme conditions such as high temperatures and pressures while maintaining structural integrity, essential for the reliability of boilers and heat recovery steam generators.

Insights from the Hydrogen Expo Panel Discussion

A key moment during the Expo was the panel discussion featuring Paolo Tironi, Senior Sales Manager Power Generation EMEA & Asia at Tenaris, and Giorgio Bona, General Manager at Macchi, a Sofinter division specialized in industrial boiler design. The conversation highlighted how both companies emphasize quality, innovation, and environmental responsibility to meet evolving market needs.

Tironi explained how Tenaris’s approach to steel manufacturing is deeply collaborative and client-centered. “We work closely with our customers to develop tailored steel chemistries and precise dimensional tolerances,” he said. “This ensures our products perform reliably under the harshest operating conditions, supporting power plants to run more efficiently and safely.”

Bona echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the importance of flexibility and technical expertise. “The energy sector demands quick adaptation without compromising quality. In Tenaris, we have found a partner who shares our commitment to excellence and sustainability.”

Customizing Steel for Extreme Power Generation Demands

Tenaris specializes in producing seamless steel tubes optimized for use in boilers, HRSGs, and other critical components in power plants. These tubes must endure extreme thermal cycles, pressures, and corrosive environments. To achieve this, Tenaris engineers customize the steel’s chemical composition and heat treatment processes for each project.

One example is their ability to work with high-alloy steels containing up to 12% chromium, which offer enhanced resistance to oxidation and corrosion. The company’s Romanian manufacturing plant plays a crucial role in these efforts. Upgraded in 2012 with a dedicated power generation line, this facility can produce tubes up to 26 meters long. Longer tubes allow manufacturers to build taller HRSG modules, which reduces the number of welds required, lowers installation times, and cuts costs, all critical factors in modern power plant construction.

Thor® 115: engineered for next-generation turbines

Tenaris offers specialized steels such as Thor® 115, a grade engineered for steam oxidation resistance in the toughest conditions. This material enables power plants to utilize the full efficiency of state-of-the-art gas and steam turbines operating in combined-cycle setups, which are key to reducing CO₂ emissions while maximizing output.

By providing such high-performance materials, Tenaris helps power plant designers overcome technical barriers related to thermal fatigue, creep, and corrosion, extending equipment lifespan and reliability.

Environmental Product Declarations: transparency in sustainability

Sustainability is at the core of Tenaris’s business strategy. The company issues Environmental Product Declarations for its seamless pipes, which transparently document the environmental impacts of its products across their life cycle. This data allows clients like Macchi to certify the environmental performance of their boilers and power generation modules, meeting increasingly stringent regulatory and market requirements.

Such transparency enhances client competitiveness by demonstrating compliance with global sustainability standards and responding to growing customer demand for greener energy solutions.

Pioneering hydrogen infrastructure with the THera™ portfolio

Looking ahead, Tenaris is positioning itself as a frontrunner in the burgeoning hydrogen economy. Its THera™ portfolio addresses hydrogen transport and storage challenges by offering innovative tubular solutions, including:

• High-pressure storage systems for hydrogen refueling stations rated up to 1000 bar

• Custom-designed tube trailers for safe, efficient hydrogen transportation

• Pipelines engineered to transport 100% hydrogen safely over long distances

These products respond to hydrogen’s unique material challenges, such as embrittlement, ensuring infrastructure safety and durability as the world transitions toward cleaner fuels.

A long-standing partnership driving power sector innovation

Tenaris and Macchi’s partnership, spanning over 25 years, exemplifies how enduring collaborations rooted in trust, innovation, and shared values foster industry-leading advancements. Together, they continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in power generation, from steel chemistry innovations to tailored manufacturing and environmental stewardship.

Their joint commitment to flexibility and technical excellence will be crucial as the energy sector embraces new fuels, higher efficiency standards, and stricter sustainability goals.

Key Takeaways

• Tenaris delivers customized steel tubular solutions designed to withstand extreme temperatures and pressures in power generation.

• Investments in long-tube manufacturing at the Romanian plant reduce installation costs and improve power plant design efficiency.

• The THera™ product range supports the hydrogen economy with advanced storage, transport, and pipeline systems tailored for 100% hydrogen.