Gas

Mitsubishi Power Supplying Turbines for 1.6-GW Gas-Fired Plant in Brazil

Mitsubishi Power will supply its gas turbine technology to a new power plant in Brazil, a 1.6-GW facility considered among the largest electricity generation projects in Latin America.

The company on May 31 said a consortium including Mitsubishi Power and CONSAG Engenharia signed an agreement with Portocem Geração de Energia S.A. and New Fortress Energy Inc. (NFE) for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of the Portocem Thermoelectric Power Plant (UTE Portocem). The plant is expected to enter commercial operation in 2026.

A contract for the power plant was signed May 10 at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. Mitsubishi Power as the EPC lead will supply four of the company’s M501JAC enhanced air-cooled gas turbines to operate in simple cycle at UTE Portocem.

CONSAG Engenharia, part of Brazil’s multinational Andrade Gutierrez group, will be responsible for providing the balance of plant, utilities, civil works, assembly, and commissioning of the facility. It also is building a transmission line and substation. Officials said the plant will add needed power generation capacity to Brazil’s national grid, and help overcome a loss of hydropower generation in a country that relies heavily on hydroelectricity.

gas-turbine-rotor-installation — Mitsubishi Power’s M501JAC turbine adopted air cooling for combustors instead of steam cooling, which produces a high level of operability, including a shorter start-up time than the M501J. Courtesy: Mitsubishi Power

The project includes a 15-year capacity reserve contract, approved by regulators in March of this year. Portocem Geração de Energia S.A was a winner in Brazil’s first power capacity reserve auction in December 2021. UTE Portocem will be Mitsubishi Power’s third advanced technology heavy duty gas turbine project in Brazil in five years, and will bring the company’s generation capacity from those projects to about 2.6 GW.

Construction of the plant is underway. NFE recently completed construction and commissioning of the Barcarena liquefied natural gas terminal, which will supply LNG to more than 2.2 GW of capacity owned by NFE in Para, Brazil.

“The UTE Portocem project is yet another example of how the Brazilian power generation sector is recognizing the need for advanced, cleaner power generation technology to meet the needs of a changing market,” said Tim Shore, senior vice president of LATAM Commercial and Regional Leader for Mitsubishi Power Americas. “At Mitsubishi Power, we have the technology to support this transition and we thank Portocem Geração de Energia S.A for choosing us for this important project.”

—Darrell Proctor is a senior associate editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).