MHPS J-Series Gas Turbine Fleet Achieves One Million Commercial Operating Hours

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems’ (MHPS) J-Series gas turbine installed fleet today reached one million hours of commercial operation, nearly double that of similar sized gas turbines from competitors. This gas turbine series - the company’s largest and most advanced - leads the industry with reliable, efficient power generation and flexibility to meet new and higher standards for reduced carbon emissions. Introduced in 2011, the J-Series delivers an industry-leading overall reliability of 99.3%. The air-cooled JAC model delivers 99.5% reliability and efficiency greater than 64%. To put this in context, the mature F-class gas turbine fleet has a reliability of 98.6% and a combined cycle efficiency of 57-59%.

Forty-three J-Series gas turbines are in commercial operation, and total ordered capacity exceeds 25 GW globally. One hundred units have been technically selected in Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Peru, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United States. 

In the Middle East and North Africa, with similar technical selections and with achieving lowest tariffs in some of the region’s biggest and most iconic IPP project tenders, the J/JAC machines provide the region’s power industry with best-in-class performance. This includes attaining record low cost of energy, emissions reductions, as well as setting the highest standards for operational flexibility and power supply security and stability. 

Akimasa Muyama, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of MHPS said: “As we reflect on the important milestone of achieving one million operating hours with our J-Series gas turbine, we know that the most important part of that accomplishment is that we ran for all those hours with 99.3% reliability. It all started when we purchased serial number 1 and installed it in T-Point, our own combined cycle power plant in Takasago, Japan. Our outstanding reliability is not by good luck. It is because we test the durability and reliability of every new technological advancement for 8,000 hours before shipping it to our customers. We have now built a second T-Point, where our latest advancement, the 435 MW air-cooled 60 Hz JAC, has just synced to the grid and achieved full load at T-Point 2. Step-by-step, we have developed the largest, most reliable and most fuel-efficient gas turbine in the world.”

Recent innovations to the J-Series target further reductions in carbon emissions. This month the company received an order from the Intermountain Power Agency, in Delta, Utah, for two JAC gas turbines capable of using up to 30% renewable hydrogen fuel. Eventually, these turbines will be capable of using 100% renewable hydrogen fuel. while a 30% Hydrogen fuel mix can eliminate 1 million tons of CO2 emissions per year for a typical gas-fired plant of 1100-1200 MW size, the 100% hydrogen system will eliminate carbon emissions entirely. 

MHPS is also developing a 1000 MWh renewable hydrogen production and storage project called Advanced Clean Energy Storage (ACES) in Delta, Utah. This charts a clear path for replicating such utility-scale projects targeting a 100% decarbonized supply of power. Such schemes would be particularly feasible in regions such as the Middle East where solar and wind power can be deployed at scale and paired with hydrogen production, storage, and hydrogen combustion turbine systems, effectively constituting a system for both energy storage and clean power generation.

Paul Browning, President and CEO of MHPS Americas and newly appointed Chief Regional Officer for Europe, Africa and the Middle East, said: “Going forward, every gas turbine MHPS sells globally will have renewable hydrogen fuel capability. This allows our customers to purchase a natural gas power plant today and convert it over time into a renewable energy storage facility. This gives plant operators flexibility now and into the future to choose what mix of natural gas power generation and renewable energy storage best meets the need of their electrical grid. We are providing the power generation and storage solutions that enable our customers to combat climate change and advance human prosperity. This is a Change in Power.”