OREANDA-NEWS. May 17, 2011. Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502), one of the world's leading suppliers of thermal power generation equipment, today announced that a consortium of Toshiba and Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co., Ltd. (KRX: 000720) has won a major contract to supply two 1,000MW, 600 degrees Celsius ultra supercritical steam turbines-generators to Korea Southern Power Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Korea Electric Power Corporation.

The steam turbines and generators, which achieve higher generating efficiency and deliver cleaner energy, will be installed in the Samcheok Green Power Project, a major power plant project in Samcheok city. The first unit will be shipped from Japan in 2013 and is expected to start commercial operation in mid 2015. The plant will be Korea's largest coal-fired power plants and the first in the country to deploy 1,000MW, 600 degrees Celsius class ultra supercritical power systems.

Coal-fired power generation is more efficient when steam is produced at higher temperatures under higher pressure. Ultra supercritical steam turbines-generators generate energy with steam produced at temperatures of 600 degrees Celsius and more and at pressure of 25 mega pascal (MPa), 250 times atmospheric pressure at sea level.

To date, Toshiba has won 10 ultra supercritical steam turbines and generators orders in Japan and 13 units overseas. The Korean contract was awarded to the consortium on the basis of Hyundai and Toshiba's rich supply record, advanced technical capabilities and reliability, and competitiveness.

Driven by high expectations of economic growth, the Korean power generation equipment market is expected to see steady demand growth that will boost installed capacity from 76GW today to over 100GW by 2020, according to The 5th Basic Plan for Long term Electricity Supply and Demand noticed by Korean government's Ministry of Knowledge Economy. Fossil-fired thermal power stations will account for over 55 percent of capacity, far surpassing other energy sources. Toshiba will seek to support this development and to win more contracts in Korea.

Toshiba is promoting efforts to reinforce its presence in thermal power markets around the world, including Asia, and to support companies, regions and countries in developing a strategic approach to energy security.