OREANDA-NEWS. Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS) has received a full turnkey order from Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE: Federal Electricity Commission) of Mexico for work to increase the output of four units of coal-fired power plants.

By replacing turbines and other core equipment, total generating power at CFE's large-scale power generation plant will be increased from 1,200 megawatts (MW) to 1,320 MW, and generation efficiency will be enhanced. Construction work on the first unit will commence in February 2017, with work on the remaining three units to get under way progressively every six months or so thereafter. The project, which is valued about US Dollar 200 million (approx. 23.0 billion yen), is scheduled for completion in February 2019.

The output expansion order was received through Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (MHPS-MEX), an MHPS business base in Mexico, and Electrica de Rio Escondido S.A. de C.V., a special-purpose company. The work order applies to Units No.1 through No.4 of CFE's Rio Escondido Thermal Power Plant located in the city of Piedras Negras in the state of Coahuila in northern Mexico. The plant's core equipment was originally supplied by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and Babcock-Hitachi K.K. (BHK) in 1982, and for 32 years the plant has dependably provided power to the local region.

The construction work on order calls for replacement of this original equipment in order to transform the aging Rio Escondido facility into a highly efficient power plant. MHPS will supply steam turbines and other core equipment, and will also be responsible for all aspects from auxiliary equipment design, manufacture and procurement to civil engineering, installation and test operation.

In August 2014 a series of energy reform bills were enacted in Mexico that have opened the door to participation in the power generation business by the private sector. As a result CFE, which has traditionally had almost no rivals in the domestic power generation business, now faces competition against private power providers - a situation that has created an urgent need for CFE to enhance the efficiency of its existing plants. The project at Rio Escondido is part of various initiatives being taken by CFE to meet this new challenge.

MHPS has a full range of products for thermal power generation systems, enabling the company to provide total solutions in the power generation field. Going forward, in addition to manufacturing and supplying products of superlative efficiency, MHPS will respond precisely to a broad array of market and customer needs, including output expansion work of the kind just ordered from Mexico, as its way of contributing to the economic development of nations and regions around the world.