OREANDA-NEWS. Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS) has received an order for two sets of a 693 megawatt (MW) class steam turbine and generator (STG) for a project to construct a coal-fired ultra-supercritical-pressure(Note) thermal power generation plant in Safi, Morocco. The two STG sets, for Units No.1 and No.2 at the plant, will be delivered through Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd., a major construction company in Korea that is undertaking engineering, construction and procurement (EPC) on the project. The two thermal units are slated to commence operation in 2018.

The advanced 1,386MW ultra-supercritical-pressure thermal power plant is currently being built by Safi Energy Company S.A. near the city of Safi, approximately 250 kilometers southwest of Casablanca. Safi Energy is a project company jointly established by Mitsui & Co., Ltd.; GDF SUEZ S.A., a major power provider based in France; and Nareva Holding S.A., a state-affiliated investment company in Morocco. The power plant marks the first ultra-supercritical-pressure thermal power plant to be built in Africa. Once completed, the plant will supply power to l'Office National de l'Electricite et de l'Eau Potable, the Moroccan state-owned utility, based on a long-term purchase agreement, thus responding to the country's increasing energy demand accompanying economic development.

Besides supplying the two steam turbines and generators, which are the core components of the ultra-supercritical-pressure thermal power plant, MHPS will also dispatch supervisors and conduct training in Morocco.

MHPS has a strong track record in coal-fired ultra-supercritical-pressure thermal power plants. Such plants are capable of achieving the world's highest level of thermal efficiency in coal-fired power generation by applying high temperatures and high pressure to steam, while at the same time enabling reductions in CO2 emissions.

Going forward MHPS will continue to apply its high-efficiency ultra-supercritical pressure technologies, and will undertake aggressive marketing in a broad range of countries and regions where demand for coal-fired power generation systems is expected to increase - especially in Africa, Eastern Europe, Russia, Latin America and Southeast Asia - in order to contribute to both stable power supplies and reduction of environmental burdens.

Under normal atmospheric pressure, water boils at 100°C (212°F/373°K) and the boiling point rises when higher pressure is applied. Supercritical turbines are engineered to operate at steam pressures above water's critical point: 22.1MPa (about 220 times greater than normal atmospheric pressure) and 374.2°C (705.2°F/647.15°K). In actual use, supercritical turbines are operated in environments of about 250 atm. and 566°C. An environment at 593°C is referred to as "ultra-supercritical pressure."