Mitsubishi Opens Gas Turbine Factory in Saudi Arabia

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) opened its new turbine rotor repair facility in Dammam, Saudi Arabia October 12 and announced plans to manufacture its most advanced gas turbines in the kingdom. 

MHPS also intends to use the new facility as a base for servicing the compressors and their turbines used in petroleum and chemical plants, it said. Starting in 2018, MHPS, in collaboration with the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor Corp. (MCO) – also a group company of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) – will handle the maintenance and inspection of compressors and turbines delivered to Saudi Arabia by MCO.

MHPS' new JAC gas turbine, in a combined cycle one-on-one configuration, produces 600 megawatts of power at 60Hz while reducing carbon emissions by nearly 70%, the company said, adding that it will produce electricity at the lowest cost in the kingdom.

“The inauguration of a maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility for gas and steam turbines and compressors, represents a new milestone in the fruitful cooperation with Saudi Aramco's strategic partner, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems,” said Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani, Saudi Aramco's senior vice president of upstream. “This investment is instrumental in achieving one of the important objectives highlighted by Vision 2030, namely to increase small and medium size enterprise (SME) contribution to the kingdom's GDP.”

Shardul Sharma