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Thursday, December 19, 2019

Japan: Geothermal Power Plant Manufacturers Part Ways

Hitachi Exiting MHPS; MHI Will be Venture’s Sole Owner (Power Mag)

MHPS is a long-term exhibitor at the GRC Annual Meeting & Expo

Japanese technology conglomerate Hitachi will withdraw from Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS), a joint venture it established in 2014 with another power equipment giant, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), over a dispute stemming from construction of two massive defect-ridden coal plants in South Africa.

Under a Dec. 18-announced settlement reached by MHI and Hitachi, Hitachi will pay MHI 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) in March, and transfer its 35% stake in MHPS to MHI, which currently holds the remaining 65%.

The two Japanese giants created the flagship power plant and equipment venture company to combine their thermal power generation businesses in February 2014, with an eye toward gaining more clout in a rapidly changing global power market. MHPS has since grown into a massive company with nearly 19,000 employees, and today is a brand-name builder of gas, steam, integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC), and geothermal plants, and a solid contender in the gas turbine, steam turbine, boiler, environmental controls, generators, control systems, and fuel cell markets.


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