MHIEC Receives Order to Refurbish Core Component of Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Facility in Mihara City, Hiroshima Prefecture

The Mihara MSW Incineration Plant was constructed by MHI and completed in March 1999. Its current incineration facilities consist of two stokers each having 60tpd (16hours per day operation) capacity and related equipment.

The newly ordered work is to consist of replacement or revamping of the plant's core equipment, including facilities for refuse receiving and feeding, incineration, gas cooling, flue gas treatment, waste heat utilization, ventilation and ash discharge, plus the electrical & instrumentation system, etc. Energy conservation will be pursued through adoption of high-efficiency motors in various equipment that, together with other improvements, will enable a greater than 3% (approx. 78 tons) reduction in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions per year, thereby making a solid contribution to curbing global warming.

Recently the number of projects to modify and improve existing MSW incineration plants, both to extend their operational lives and to reduce their impact on global warming, is in an increasing trend as local governments face tight budgets that make it difficult to construct new facilities. Moves in this direction are also gathering further momentum with the central government's introduction in 2010 of a state subsidy system created to promote extension of the operational life of waste treatment facilities and enhance their energy efficiency^*2.

MHIEC took over MHI's waste treatment plant business in 2008, acquiring MHI's technological development capabilities in environmental systems and its abundant expertise in the construction and operation of waste management facilities both in Japan and overseas. On the strength of these assets, MHIEC today is in a prime position to provide comprehensive solutions encompassing all aspects from plant construction to operation.

Leveraging this latest order and its solid track record, going forward MHIEC will proactively propose further energy-saving enhancements and system improvements for stable operation at existing waste treatment facilities as well as ways to reduce lifecycle costs, including maintenance and management costs, in a quest to expand its business in this field further.

Notes:

1. Stoker is a common feature of MSW incineration plants. In stoker, MSW is combusted as it moves along on fire grate made of heat-resistant castings.

2. This program, which falls under the jurisdiction of Japan's Ministry of the Environment, targets effective use and improvement of existing waste treatment facilities as a contribution to the prevention of global warming. Local (city, town or village) governments that seek to extend the operational life of their MSW facilities are eligible to receive subsidies covering one-third to half of the project cost, dependent on the CO₂ reduction rate.