First fire of first J-series gas turbine in North America

The Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) has successfully completed the first fire of its new 495 megawatt combined cycle power plant at the Grand River Energy Center in Oklahoma. The plant is equipped with a Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) M501J turbine, marking the first time that a J-Series turbine has been operational in the Western Hemisphere, and the 24th unit globally. An additional 12 J-Series have been ordered in North America.

Following a ceremony on March 14 wishing safety and success for plant personnel, the first fire was completed on the first attempt. Full speed no load tests were conducted the same day and the unit was synchronized to the grid and produced its first electricity for GRDA and MISO Power Pool customers two days later. All steam blows for the plant were completed ahead of schedule

The MHPS turbine installed at Grand River Energy Center is the first J-Series to be built at the Savannah Machinery Works in Savannah, Georgia and was delivered ahead of schedule. It is paired in combined cycle with a steam turbine that was built at the MHPS Nagasaki Works in Japan. The unit also features a generator from Mitsubishi Electric Co. As part of the project GRDA also signed a 25-year long term service agreement with MHPS.

GRDA broke ground on Grand River Energy Center Unit 3 in January 2015. The environmentally friendly natural gas facility will replace an older coal-fired generator on the same site and will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 60%. The new power plant is on schedule to be fully operational this summer.

While the MHPS J-Series turbine was undergoing first fire in Oklahoma, two new M501J 60Hz turbines began commercial operations at separate power plants in South Korea, further expanding the MHPS global fleet of Advanced Class Gas Turbines (ACGT). When the Grand River Energy Center unit goes commercial it will become the 24th MHPS J-Series turbine to become operational. MHPS recently achieved a major milestone by registering 368,000 Actual Operating Hours (AOH) of service for its J-Series units at power plants around the world. The MHPS J-Series was commercialized in 2013. There are now 23 in commercial operation worldwide. Another 25 are being manufactured or have been delivered to power plants under construction. In total, 95 J-Series have been technically selected by utilities, municipal systems and independent power producers.