MANILA, Philippines – Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) has chosen the Philippines as a jump-off point for its expansion in Southeast Asia and the Middle East in providing operation and maintenance (O&M) services for thermal power plants.
MHPS launched yesterday its third Global Service Center (GSC) for thermal power plant operators in Alabang, Muntinlupa City—the first in Southeast Asia—following its remote monitoring centers in Japan’s Takasago, Hyogo Prefecture in 1999 and Orlando, Florida in 2001.
The company decided to open shop in the Philippines mainly because it is an English-speaking country and has been doing engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) business with local companies for over 40 years, MHPS president and CEO Takato Nishizawa said during the launch.
“We need a good place and then expand, not only in Southeast Asia but also including the Middle East from here,” he said.
Centered in Southeast Asia, the new GSC offers comprehensive services to a wide range of thermal power plant operators including remote monitoring, control, O&M and single-point centralized management optimized for each power plant.
Masao Ishikawa, MHPS managing director for Asia Pacific, said the GSC aims to optimize the operations of power plants through the Remote Monitoring Center, which will help in lessening the downtime of plants.
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“We are expecting what is happening in the machines. Predictions are based on data. From there we can easily locate parts needed to repair or replaced,” he said.
With the new Philippine facility, Nishizawa said the company aims to spread the technology that aims to lessen unplanned shutdowns of plants in the Philippines and in other parts of the region.
So far, MHPS has conducted centralized management for the 420-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power generation plant of Team Energy Corp. and Aboitiz Power Corp. in Pagbilao, Quezon, which is targeted to start commercial operations in 2017.
Another client is the 630-MW Masinloc coal-fired power plant in Zambales of Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd. (MPPCL), scheduled to run in 2019. The power plant is owned by Electricity Generating Public Co. Ltd. (EGCO) and the local unit of American energy giant AES Corp.
