MHI to Build Gas Turbine Combustor Manufacturing Plant in Georgia,
Aiming to Expand GTCC Power Generation System Sales
Through Enhancement of Manufacturing/Service Base in the U.S.

Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas, Inc. (MPSA), a Florida-based subsidiary that serves as regional headquarters of MHI's power systems business in the Americas, will be in charge of constructing and operating the new plant. MPSA has already secured a 119-acre site near Savannah.

The new plant dedicated to combustor manufacture, construction of which is slated to begin before the end of this year, will have advanced production lines similar to those of MHI's Takasago Machinery Works in Hyogo Prefecture, the company's main gas turbine production facility. The plant will undertake fully integrated manufacturing, from welding assembly to processing and coating.

With GTCC type power generation, gas and steam turbines are used in combination to generate electricity in two stages, utilizing high-temperature exhaust gas from the gas turbine. This configuration enables GTCC power plants to achieve higher thermal efficiency than other plants incorporating earlier technology, such as conventional boiler steam turbine plants. Higher efficiency means that GTCC plants reduce fuel consumption relative to electricity output and emit less CO2, thus making them friendlier to the environment.

In a quest to promote increased adoption of GTCC power generation systems globally and to realize its aim to secure a 30% share of the world market, MHI looks to establish a structure enabling production of 50 gas turbines per year, up from the current 36 units, and is taking various initiatives toward realizing that target. The new U.S. plant will be of core strategic importance to the achievement of its plan. In step with market developments in 2011 and beyond, MHI intends to enhance its U.S. base structure incrementally: commencing with the manufacture of gas turbine core components and assembly, and then proceeding to the full manufacture of gas turbine products and the provision of a wide range of maintenance and upgrading services for gas and steam turbines, including major components such as rotors and valves. Through these initiatives, MHI intends to respond to demand not only in North, Central and South America but worldwide.

• GTCC