MHI Receives Steam Turbine Order from Turkey

Steam turbines are a core component of geothermal power plants. The latest order represents the second steam turbine to be supplied by MHI to the Germencik Geothermal Power Plant, following a turbine delivered in 2008 for power generation unit No.1. The accompanying generator will be provided by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. MHI believes that the high operational availability and reliability of its previously delivered equipment were highly evaluated and contributed to the awarding of the new order.

Securing power sources has become a major issue in Turkey due to tight power supplies associated with the country's robust economic growth. Under this situation, interest in renewable energies has been increasing, and the Turkish government is taking initiatives to promote utilization of the country's abundant geothermal energy. For the power that will be generated at unit No.2 of the Germencik Geothermal Power Plant, for example, application of a 10-year feed-in tariff (FIT) program is planned.

Geothermal power generation utilizes geothermal fluid, a mixture of high-temperature water and steam extracted from deep underground reservoirs through production wells. The steam extracted from the fluid is used to rotate steam turbines. Geothermal power generation is not affected by weather, unlike photovoltaic or wind power generation, and is fully operable 24 hours a day, seven days a week - enabling a significantly higher ratio of facility utilization than wind or photovoltaic power generation. It is also a clean generation system that emits extremely modest amounts of CO2.

MHI is a leading company in geothermal power generation systems, having to date received orders for more than 100 units from 13 countries. The aggregate capacity of units already installed is 3,110 MW, equal to approximately 30% of the world's current geothermal power generation capacity. Going forward, MHI will continue aggressive marketing activities for its geothermal power generation systems as a way of contributing to efforts to prevent global warming.