Mitsubishi and Sepco 3 sign deal for 681MW Bahrain power deal

Japan’s Mitsubishi Power and China’s Sepco 3 have been awarded a full turnkey contract with Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) to increase the capacity of Power Station 5 at Alba’s smelter facility in Bahrain

Japan’s Mitsubishi Power and China’s Sepco 3 have been awarded a full turnkey contract with Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) to increase the capacity of Power Station 5 at Alba’s smelter facility in Bahrain.

 The work will involve increasing the capacity of Power Station 5 by 680.9MW through a new combined-cycle gas turbine block. Alba’s aluminium smelter is the largest in the world outside of China.

 Under the terms of the contract, the Mitsubishi Power, power arm of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), and Sepco 3 consortium will design, engineer, procure, construct and commission a the 680.9MW power block. Mitsubishi Power will supply the combined cycle power unit, which comprises of M701JAC gas turbine, an air-cooled version of J-series gas turbines and a steam turbine.

 According to Mitsubishi Power, the turbine has an efficiency rate of greater than 64 per cent. The fleet has logged more than 1.7 million operating hours globally. The JAC turbines are also currently capable of using up to 30 per cent hydrogen fuel, which Mitsubishi is aiming to reach 100 per cent in the future.

 “We are thrilled to add a fourth block into Power Station 5 to bring its power output to more than 2.4GW. Investing in efficient gas turbine, our latest ambitious power project, will accelerate our ESG transition and enable Alba to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions as we embrace Bahrain’s objectives to reach Net Zero by 2060,” said Shaikh Daij Al-Khalifa, chairman of Alba’s board of directors, at the contract signing ceremony in Bahrain on 16 May.

Commercial operations of the 680.9MW expansion are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2024.