Grand River Dam Authority Dedicates New Power Plant Featuring First MHPS J-Series Gas Turbine in the U.S.

New 500 Megawatt Combined Cycle Plant Sets New Standard for Efficiency, Reliability

CHOUTEAU, OK – (October 27, 2017) The Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) has dedicated Unit 3 at its Grand River Energy Center in Oklahoma, a 500-megawatt combined cycle power plant equipped with a Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) M501J advanced class gas turbine. It is the first J-series turbine produced at the MHPS Savannah Machinery Works to be operational in the U.S.

“This capital investment further diversifies GRDA’s power generation options and ensures we remain a primary, reliable source of electricity for our current and future customers,” GRDA Chairman of the Board Joe Vandevier said. “With this new unit, GRDA can now capitalize on one of our greatest assets in natural gas and further increase the return investment to Oklahoma.”

This new, high-efficiency combined cycle gas plant represents a $500 million investment by GRDA reflecting its “grand and greener” long-term electric generation plan. According to a 2015 study by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, the Grand River Dam Authority’s investment, operations, quality of life and power costs, facilitated an annual economic activity impact of $960 million to a little over $1 billion in Oklahoma’s economy during the first two years of Unit 3 construction. Over the long term, GRDA’s annual economic activity has an $840-$850 million impact on the Oklahoma economy.

“This is an important day for GRDA and MHPS. This is our 26th J-series gas turbine installed globally and our first in the Americas, a milestone worth celebrating for our company,” said Paul Browning, MHPS Americas President and CEO. “We’re proud that GRDA selected the MHPS J-Series to meet its aggressive goal to build one of the most efficient combined cycle power plants in the United States. During the smooth startup process, the MHPS M501J turbine exceeded its performance guarantee and GRDA was able to sell power to the grid ahead of schedule. Record-breaking performance, combined with unparalleled reliability, make the J-series the gas turbine of the future.”

The MHPS turbine was delivered on time to the site, successfully achieved First Fire on March 14th in its first attempt and only two days later synchronized to the grid to first produce electricity for GRDA and Southwest Power Pool customers. Since then, the facility successfully conducted steam blows well ahead of schedule and quickly resumed operation on time. On April 27th, less than 45 days after First Fire, while operating in combined cycle, the test team successfully demonstrated sustained operations above GRDA’s “Sellable Power” milestone. The commissioning team achieved this contract milestone 35 days of ahead of the June 1st contract deadline.

The MHPS combustion turbine installed at the Grand River Energy Center is the first J-Series built at the Savannah Machinery Works in Savannah, Georgia. It is paired in combined cycle with a steam turbine that was built at the MHPS Nagasaki Works in Japan. Both units also feature generators from Mitsubishi Electric Company. As part of the project, GRDA signed a 25-year long term service agreement with MHPS.

“It has been my privilege to work with the technology team that GRDA assembled to create Unit 3 at the Grand River Energy Center,” said Charles Barney, executive vice president, GRDA. “These partners all shared our vision to set a new standard for efficiency and reliability. Each partner contributed their best engineers and constructors, and I congratulate them on their exceptional accomplishment. This ultra-efficient electric generator is now integrated with our hydro and wind generation, and will help assure that GRDA customers have low-cost, clean and reliable electricity for many decades.”

GRDA’s new M501J was dedicated just days after another MHPS J-series turbine in a 1on1 configuration went into commercial operation in South Korea. The 26 MHPS J-series turbines in commercial operation now have nearly 500,000 operating hours.

“MHPS is recognized for consistently delivering our turbines on-time and on-budget, with performance that exceeds our guarantees,” Browning said. “MHPS Advanced Class Gas Turbines are outpacing the competition in terms of efficiency and reliability. We have 13 orders from the Americas, with 7 of the units already delivered, leading a new energy revolution and powering economic growth.”