MHI's 2018 Best Innovation Awards - One Project Selected for
the "Best Environmental Practice" Award, and Three Products for
the "Best Environmental Product" Awards
-- Awards Recognize Outstanding Products and Technologies That Contribute to Resolving Environmental Issues of Global Scale --

Tokyo, February 27, 2019 - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has since fiscal 2017 presented the "Best Innovation" awards, an in-house award program intended to raise awareness of environmental contributions among MHI Group employees, and encourage technological innovation.

For the 2018 Best Innovation Awards, MHI has selected one project for the "Best Environmental Practice Award," presented for an activity that contributes to global environmental conservation, and three products to receive the "Best Environmental Product Award," given for products that help protect the global environment. The award-winning practice and products are described below.

■ Best Environmental Practice Award

･ Large-scale solar power generation facility reduces the environmental load in the ASEAN regionMitsubishi Turbocharger Asia Co., Ltd.

The solar power generation facility installed in March 2018 on the roof of Mitsubishi Turbocharger Asia's factory in Thailand is capable of generating 5.8 GWh of electricity annually. This rooftop installation is the most extensive within MHI Group, and has one of the largest power outputs in the ASEAN region. Installation on the roof also helps lower the temperature inside the factory, and power consumption for air conditioning. The project, which provides a CO₂ reduction of nearly 3,000 tonnes annually and helps cut greenhouse gas emissions, received an award from the Thai government.

■ Best Environmental Product Awards

• High-efficiency chiller/freezer unit without CFC refrigerants reduces CO₂ emissions MHI Thermal Systems, Ltd. / MHI Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Corporation

This chiller/freezer unit uses only the natural refrigerant CO₂ instead of Freon or CFC substitutes, which have a large impact on the global environment. Natural refrigerants have a significantly lower global warming potential (GWP) value than Freon or CFC substitutes, and an ozone depletion potential (ODP) value of zero, allowing for considerable reductions in environmental loads. Annual power consumption is also 16% lower. The product was launched in April 2017. If half of the chiller/freezer units in Japan were replaced with units using natural refrigerants, the curbs on leakage of Freon and CFC substitutes and improved efficiency of devices would reduce CO₂ emissions by nearly 4 million tonnes annually.

• World's first large scrubber system for ships reduces sulfur oxide (SOx) emissions Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. / Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.

This marine exhaust gas cleaning unit was developed by combining MHI Group's general flue gas treatment technologies and marine engineering capabilities. It will allow operators to comply with tighter regulations on marine SOx emissions that will come into effect in 2020. The system cleans the SOx from exhaust gases when burning fuel oil, and is the world's first system able to treat emissions from the high-output engines used on massive container ships. The product was launched in June 2017. The system can be easily fitted to existing ships, and if utilized by all ultra-large container ships, would clean around 3 million tonnes of SOx annually.

• Development of energy-saving ships improves fuel efficiency and cuts CO₂ emissions - Shin Nihonkai Ferry's LAVENDER and AZALEA
Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.

These ferries utilize a cutting-edge, energy-saving hull form and proximity twin-screw propulsion system, as well as energy-saving devices such as an air lubrication system and special rudder, making them among the most fuel-efficient ferries in Japan. The volume of CO₂ emissions per tonne mile is approximately 30% less than the global average for ferries. The first ship entered service in March 2017, and the second in June 2017. Compared with previous vessels, the CO₂ emissions per ship is reduced by around 7,000 tonnes per year. In June 2018, AZALEA was named "Ship of the Year 2017" (Note2) in the large passenger ship category.

The "Best Innovation Awards" is an award program, conducted annually since 2003, to recognize original new products, services, technologies, and businesses within the MHI Group. In fiscal 2018, a total of 16 awards were presented, including these four awards in the environmental categories.

• 1The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional intergovernmental organization established in 1967 by the five countries of Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia. ASEAN currently comprises ten Southeast Asian countries.
• 2"Ship of the Year" is an annual award launched in 1990 and sponsored by the Japan Society of Naval Architects and Ocean Engineers to recognize ships and marine structures built in Japan that are exceptional in terms of their technical or artistic merits. A total of seven ships received the Ship of the Year Award 2017.