Toshiba will collaborate with a U.S. geothermal power company to build plants around the world from the ground up, bringing down project times and growing its involvement in previously thin markets.
U.S.-based Ormat Technologies handles all stages of geothermal plant construction, from mining geothermal resources to building facilities and producing and selling plant technology. The company also operates a number of plants around the world.
Ormat has produced roughly 12% of the world's installed geothermal power capacity, making it the fourth largest player in the market, Toshiba says. Ormat boasts strong sales of so-called binary geothermal plants, which are able to draw power from relatively low-temperature fluid of around 100 C.
Toshiba itself holds a 26% market share, making it the world's geothermal leader. The company focuses mainly on flash systems, which use high-temperature steam to spin generator turbines. But Toshiba's business has so far been centered on the production and sale of turbines, generators and other plant components.