Tokyo, Japan, Dec. 21, 2006 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has received a full-turnkey order from Empresa Electrica Guacolda S.A., an electricity provider in Chile, for a 152 MW (megawatt) coal-fired power generation plant to be built at the Guacolda Power Station in Huasco.
Previously, MHI received orders for the No.1 and No.2 units of identical scale at the same plant, and the latest order marks the third unit ordered by the company.
The No. 3 unit is scheduled to go on-stream in September 2009.The new power plant to be built in Huasco, approximately 700 kilometers north of Santiago, Chile's capital, will consist of a boiler, steam turbine, generator and steam condenser. MHI will manufacture the boiler at its Yokohama Dockyard and Machinery Works, which is also responsible for the plant construction work, and the steam turbine and steam condenser at its Nagasaki Shipyard and Machinery Works. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation will supply the generator and Mitsubishi Corporation will handle the trade particulars.
Electrica Guacolda, headquartered in Santiago, is a mid-sized electricity provider in Chile. Based on long-term sales contracts, the company provides electricity to power distributors and state-owned and private copper mining companies. The Guacolda Power Station is advantageously located in Huasco in the proximity of customers.
The high evaluation accorded by Electrica Guacolda to MHI's technological expertise and the proven operational record of its previously delivered power plants resulted in the award of the latest order.Amidst recovery of both the global and domestic economies and the resulting rise in international copper prices, Chile's real gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.3% in 2005 and continues to expand, with growth in 2006 now estimated to reach about 5%.
Accordingly, the nation's electricity demand is also increasing.Historically, hydropower has been Chile's major power source, but hydropower is vulnerable to seasonal and climatic changes - i.e. fluctuations in rainfall quantity. In response, the Chilean government began to diversify its energy mix to increase thermal power generation by natural gas and coal.
However, to secure the energy resources to fuel its thermal power generation plants, Chile must rely on imports. Ever since the country faced a natural gas crisis in 2004, when the government of Argentina limited natural gas exports to Chile, coal-fired power plants have begun to receive renewed attention as a substitute for plants fired by natural gas.Gaining momentum from the latest order, MHI will now further strengthen its marketing activities in Central and South America, especially in Chile where the economy is expanding steadily. About Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
(TSE: 7011, 'MHI'), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading heavy machinery manufacturers, with consolidated sales of 2,792 billion yen in fiscal 2005 (year ended March 31, 2006). MHI's diverse lineup of products and services encompasses shipbuilding, power plants, chemical plants, environmental equipment, steel structures, industrial and general machinery, aircraft, space rocketry and air-conditioning systems.