Toshiba awarded $500m hydro contract

• 13 years ago (2011-02-07)
• Junior Isles

Asia 847 North America 998

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Toshiba’s US business has secured a $500m hydro power equipment supply deal with Consumers Energy and Detroit Edison.

The equipment is to be used for a major overhaul at the Ludington pumped storage plant in Michigan, which was the world’s largest pumped-storage hydro plant when it was built in 1973.

While other manufacturers produced the original plant’s equipment, Toshiba is the selected supplier for the upgrade, which will begin in 2013.

Toshiba will replace six large pump turbines, upgrade motor generators and associated equipment in a revamp that is set to boost the plant’s output by 50 MW per unit. It expects to take six years to complete the project, which is scheduled to be ready by the end of 2019.

Toshiba Hydro Power, a subsidiary of the electronics conglomerate, will manufacture the equipment, while Toshiba’s Japan-based Keihin Product operations will conduct design engineering.

Pumped storage hydroelectric generation is often used to support power utilities balance loads in order to meet fluctuations in electricity demand.

The Toshiba Group previously installed hydro power equipment at the Kannagawa plant in Japan, which has a capacity of 470 MW with a single machine.

The conglomerate was also recently awarded a contract to supply hydro equipment to the Qingyuan pumped storage power station in China’s Guangdong Province.