News and Projects

5C-Tech establishes Joint Venture, 5C-Tech Americas, for Automated Pipeline Welding in the U.S.

The FRIEDRICH VORWERK Group continues its course of international growth and is bringing its automated pipeline welding technology to the world’s largest pipeline market: In October 2026, 5C-Tech GmbH, a subsidiary of the Group, founded the joint venture 5C-Tech Americas, Inc. together with experienced partners from the U.S. energy infrastructure industry. The new company is headquartered in Texas and will provide pipeline construction companies in the United States, Canada, Central America, and South America with highly automated welding services for large-scale long-distance pipeline projects. The first project is already scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2027.

In the United States, pipeline construction is currently experiencing a wave of new large-scale projects: According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), new natural gas transmission pipelines with a capacity of approximately 1.3 billion cubic meters per day are scheduled to come online in 2026 and 2027 alone, and about 70 percent of these are already under construction. About two-thirds of this capacity originates in Texas, where natural gas from the Permian Basin must be transported to LNG export terminals on the Gulf Coast, as well as to power plants and industrial customers. Projects such as the approximately 590-kilometer-long Blackcomb Pipeline or the roughly 640-kilometer-long Hugh Brinson Project—with a pipe diameter of 42 inches—demonstrate the scale of construction taking place there. It is precisely on such routes that automated welding really shines: Every weld produced faster and with consistently high quality shortens construction time and reduces risks on the job site.

The joint venture combines 5C-Tech’s technology and project experience with the market access, network, and industry expertise of its U.S. partners. While 5C-Tech contributes welding systems, process development, and experienced technicians, the local partners provide access to clients and qualified workers, as well as ensure that projects are carried out in accordance with U.S. standards. With Texas as its location, 5C-Tech Americas is situated at the intersection of natural gas production, transportation, and export in the United States—and thus in close proximity to the projects where the technology is set to be deployed starting in 2027. For the FRIEDRICH VORWERK Group, the joint venture is another building block in its strategy to expand its technology business and scale the expertise developed in Germany to international growth markets.

(November 2026)