MHI Achieves Japan’s First SOFC-MGT Combined-Cycle Power Generation

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has succeeded in verification testing of a combined-cycle power generation system incorporating two different types of power generation system: solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and a micro gas turbine (MGT). The feat is unprecedented in Japan. MHI, under commission by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), has been developing the system since 2004, and the recent testing verified 75 kilowatts (kW) of power generation by the system at the company’s Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works. Following this success, MHI now aims to start production of a 200 kW-class combined-cycle power generation system this October. The company will subsequently continue developing systems offering even larger capacities and higher efficiency, in a quest to eventually develop a system suitable for utility applications.