Kepco Orders Gas Turbine from MHI

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has received an order from KEPCO Engineering & Construction Company for the core equipment of a combined heat and power (CHP) natural gas-fired generation plant, including an M501J gas turbine.

The CHP plant is to be developed by DS Power in Osan City, Gyeonggi-do, approximately 50 kilometers south of Seoul. It is scheduled to go on-stream in March 2016.

The new CHP plant at Osan will have a large power generation capacity of 436 MW to meet sharply expanding electricity demand in the area. It will also supply steam for district heating for a new residential area. The CHP facility is planned as a gas turbine combined cycle (GTCC) type plant, which mainly consists of a gas turbine, a steam turbine, two generators and a heat recovery steam generator. Through a combination of the M501J gas turbine and a steam turbine with large steam extraction capacity, the CHP plant will achieve the world’s highest level of thermal efficiency. MHI will be responsible for manufacturing and supplying the gas and steam turbines, and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation will supply the generators.

DS Power, the end user of the CHP plant project, is a special purpose company jointly established by Daesung Industrial KEPCO E&C is an affiliate of Korea Electric Power Corporation.

The M501J, a 60-hertz gas turbine, is MHI’s most advanced, high-capacity, high-efficiency model incorporating the company’s proprietary technologies. Since the J-Series was first adopted by a Japanese electric utility soon after its development was completed in 2009, overseas orders for the M501J gas turbine have been increasing steadily. To date the total number of M501J gas turbines ordered has reached 23 units, including the latest order from KEPCO E&C.

GTCC is a high-efficiency power generation system that uses gas and steam turbines in combination, utilizing high-temperature exhaust gas from the gas turbine to produce steam to drive the steam turbine. This configuration results in higher thermal efficiency enabling reduced fuel consumption and lower emissions of carbon dioxide relative to electricity generation, thereby contributing to environmental protection. With the J-Series gas turbines, GTCC power generation enables reductions in CO2 emissions by approximately 50% compared to conventional coal-fired power generation plants.

MHI has delivered numerous GTCC power generation systems both in Japan and abroad and has earned high trust in the global market for its technological expertise and track record. Gaining momentum from the latest Korean order, going forward MHI will further strengthen its marketing activities for the J-series gas turbines and GTCC power generation systems as a way of promoting more efficient use of fossil fuels and reducing environmental burdens.

[mappress]
LNG World News Staff, December 24, 2013; Image: MHI