By Myrna M. Velasco HOUSTON, Texas – Japanese firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) is offering its new 120MW H-100 gas turbine to the acceleration of electrification of the Philippine island-grids. In an interview, MHI Director for marketing and business development Ryosuke Sakai noted that the new turbine will be ideal for the energy needs of off-grid areas, which is the case of the Philippines with its more than 7,000 islands making up the archipelagic state of the country’s electricity system. Sakai noted that such targeted venture can take its cue from the technology deployments that Mitsubishi Hitachi Power System has been doing in Indonesia, West Africa and the Caribbean islands. Logistics-wise, Sakai emphasized that typically “the idea is to have a hub to receive big amount of LNG (liquefied natural gas), then MHI – being a company that can also build small ships for the mini-LNG carrier, will distribute the gas to these power systems in small islands.” Such is the set-up in what the industry terms as “milk run distribution” of LNG solutions to off-grid service areas, the Mitsubishi executive has explained. Gas technology, it was further noted, would be the best complement to power grid’s need for flexibility – especially in an electricity system with significant integration of renewable energy. “It will be certainly one area where gas will be ideal for power generation – the fast ramp up time makes it ideal to marry to renewable energy supplies,” MHI-America Vice President Michael Sicker has expounded. It has to be noted that the Philippine Department of Energy has been encouraging the installation of cleaner energy systems across island-grids – including hybrid systems that lean on renewable energy; or gas-underpinned power generation systems. And for the two shaft H-100 gas turbine with a capacity of up to 120 megawatts, Sakai noted that technology could yield “cost savings for the customer”; and the turbine is also guaranteed to have longer life and would be needing less duration for maintenance. As Mitsubishi emphasized, this new technology will advance the company’s effort “for world class LNG liquefaction,” – given the fact that energy giants such as ExxonMobil, Shell, Total along with engineering contractors like Bechtel, already completed extensive qualification studies on the gas turbine. “The H-100 driver provides the best of both worlds – combining the efficiency and variable speed operation of an aero-derivative with the durability, reliability and lower emissions and maintenance cost of a heavy duty industrial gas turbine,” the Japanese firm stressed. It added that “the ability to re-start under full settle-out pressure without requiring a large external starter/helper-motor, makes H-100 the most compact, trip-tolerant driver in its class.” The Japanese firm further reckoned that if “combined with (the turbine’s) class-leading power density, our customers will see a step-change in lowering their production costs by taking full advantage of the potential economies of scale.” Specifically for on-shore applications, the Japanese firm indicated “our heavy-duty gas turbine is expected to yield the lowest total installed cost, lowest total life-cycle cost and highest reliability in the industry.”