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Mitsubishi Hitachi wins order for 55 MW turbine for Las Pailas II project

Mitsubishi Hitachi wins order for 55 MW turbine for Las Pailas II project Domo de San Pedro geothermal project, Mexico (source: Grupo Dragon)
Alexander Richter 17 Oct 2016

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems has secured a 55 MW turbine order for the Las Pailas II geothermal power project by state utility ICE in Costa Rica.

In an announcement this morning, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS) announces that it “has received an order for a 55 megawatt (MW) class steam turbine for the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity  (ICE: Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad), Costa Rica’s state electricity and telecommunications utility. The turbine will be a core component of the Las Pailas II geothermal power plant, which will be built in Guanacaste Province in the northwest region of the country.

The Las Pailas II site is in close proximity to the Miravalles III geothermal power plant, for which MHPS delivered a steam turbine in 2000. The new plant is targeted alleviating the impact of climate change by increasing the level of power supply derived from renewable energy.

INITEC Energía, S.A., a Spanish engineering firm, will be in charge of EPCM (engineering, and procurement management) on the project. Construction management will be handled by ICE. MHPS will supply the steam turbine through that company and will also dispatch engineers to the site to provide technical advice in installation and commissioning, taking advantage of its abundant experience as an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractor. A generator, manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, will also be supplied.

Costa Rica ranks eleventh worldwide in terms of geothermal power generation capacity. In recent years demand for electric power has been increasing in step with its steady economic growth. In response, ICE is focusing on building new geothermal plants and expanding the output of existing facilities. MHPS to date has delivered equipment to two of Costa Rica’s Miravalles geothermal plants, with a combined output of 32 MW.

MHPS is in prime position to provide comprehensive solutions in both thermal and geothermal power generation systems. In geothermal power generation, the Company has received more than 100 orders from 13 countries. The total capacity of these units exceeds 3,000 MW, giving MHPS one of the world’s foremost track records in the supply of geothermal power generation equipment. Latin America in particular is one of the most important regions for MHPS’s geothermal business. In the past two years, MHPS installed two geothermal plants in Mexico (total output of 75 MW) as an EPC contractor, demonstrating the Company’s strong commitment to this market.

Going forward, MHPS will continue to proactively offer solutions in geothermal power generation equipment and facilities, thereby contributing to the mitigation of global warming.

Source: Official release by Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems

Correction: In a previous version of the article we reported that construction was contracted to INITEC from Spain. The company has though only been tasked with EPC services, the construction management will be done by ICE itself.