MHI has received a full-turnkey order for construction of a natural gas/oil-fired gas turbine combined-cycle (GTCC) power plant for ENDESA CHILE (Empresa Nacional De Electricidad S.A. CHILE), an electricity generating company headquartered in Chile. The plant on order will form the core of the San Isidro II facility now under development to prevent power shortages in the capital region. Earlier, in 1996 MHI filled the order for a GTCC plant at San Isidro I; operation at that facility commenced in October 1998.

The new 400 MW GTCC plant will be built in the vicinity of Quillota city, approximately 130 kilometers northwest of Santiago, the capital. Its main components will be an M701F gas turbine, a steam turbine, a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) and two generators. MHI will be responsible for the design and manufacture of the gas and steam turbines and HRSG, the core equipment of the facility. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation will build the generators.

MHI has a robust record of deliveries of steam turbines and boilers to Chile. As noted above, the latest order for a natural gas/oil-fired GTCC power plant is the second following equipment previously provided for San Isidro I. In the initial stage, the San Isidro II power plant will generate electricity by gas turbine only from March 2007. Later, a steam turbine and HRSG will be added for GTCC power generation. GTCC power generation is scheduled to go on-stream in February 2008.

Consumer spending in Chile has been in recovery since mid-2002, thanks largely to sustained monetary relaxation measures. Consumption has also gotten a solid boost from higher prices for copper in the international market; copper represents 40% of Chile's exports. As a result, real GDP growth reached a robust 6.1% in 2004 and is expected to increase to 6.2% in 2005. This high economic growth has given birth to increased electricity demand, and some regions - for example, Santiago and vicinity - are exposed to the risk of electricity shortages.

With GTCC type power generation, gas and steam turbines are used in combination to generate electricity in two stages, utilizing high-temperature exhaust gas from the gas turbine. This configuration enables GTCC power plants to achieve higher thermal efficiency than non-GTCC plants. Higher efficiency means that GTCC plants can reduce fuel consumption relative to electricity output and emit less CO2, thus making them more environmentally friendly.

MHI has already supplied equipment for numerous GTCC power plants to customers in Japan and worldwide, thereby earning a high reputation for its technologies and the proven performance of its plants. On the strength of the most recent order, MHI aims to further expand and strengthen its GTCC power plant marketing activities in markets where electricity demand is particularly strong.