Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) recently shipped the company's 500th gas turbine from its Takasago Machinery Works in Hyogo Prefecture. Since its first gas turbine delivery in 1963, MHI has increased the shipment of gas turbines, at the same time enhancing their power generation capacity and performance, and achieves the milestone shipment in 47 years. The 500th unit was delivered to a large-scale power generation and desalination project - the Ras Laffan C Independent Water and Power Producer (IWPP) Project - currently under way in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar.

The 500th gas turbine is the first unit of eight M701F gas turbines ordered by Ras Girtas Power Company (RGPC), an IWPP formed by companies in Japan, Europe and Qatar. The plant to be built in Ras Laffan will be one of the world's largest of its kind, consisting of a natural-gas-fired GTCC power generation facility with a total generation capacity of 2,730 MW and a desalination plant with capacity to produce 63 million gallons of water per day from seawater. The plant is slated to go on-stream in April 2011.

With the added momentum from marking its 500th shipment, MHI will now conduct its gas turbine marketing activities globally, responding to demand for high-efficiency power generation systems, such as gas turbine combined cycle (GTCC) power generation, that contribute to conservation of energy resources and environmental preservation.

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