OREANDA-NEWS.  January 19, 2012. Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502), one of the world's leading suppliers of thermal power generation equipment, today announced that it has won a major contract from Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc., a major utility based in Colorado, and Sunflower Electric Power Corporation, a major utility in Kansas, to supply a 971MW supercritical steam turbine and generator for the Holcomb Thermal Power Plant in Kansas, USA.

The supply of equipment is scheduled for July 2014, and plant operation is expected to start in 2017. The contract was signed by Toshiba International Corporation, a U.S. subsidiary of Toshiba.

Toshiba has a proven design and time-tested operation, and the award of this latest contract reflects Toshiba's supply record, advanced technical capabilities, equipment reliability and competitiveness. Toshiba supplied the turbine and generator with equivalent specifications that it will supply to Holcomb to another major US utility in 2009.

The US is expected to see continuing demand for thermal power plants as a cost-efficient, stable source of energy, with increasing interest in highly efficient fossil power plants as a means to mitigate global warming and meet Environment Protection Agency standards for power plant operation. Increased supply of low cost shale gas is also supporting increased new and replacement construction of natural-gas fired combined cycle power plants.

Toshiba has a major presence in the North American power generation market. It has supplied over 90 steam turbine generators for thermal power plants, including plants now under construction, and recorded the largest market share* on an order base for the last eight years. The company has recently seen a marked upturn in orders for steam turbines for combined cycle thermal power plants, and expects the cumulative total of orders to surpass 100 units by 2014. Toshiba recognizes North America constitutes as an important strategic market for its thermal power plant business and has built up a comprehensive service, maintenance and support network centered on REGENCO LLC, which it acquired in 2007.

Toshiba will continue to reinforce the thermal power plant business in North America by providing highly efficient and highly reliable equipment and services.