Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems adjusting to Covid crisis

Despite the Covid crisis, business at Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) is doing well. The company had its best year on record, and ranked first in market share by megawatts for gas turbine orders in the first quarter of 2020. The MHPS remote monitoring and diagnostics center has helped the company leverage real-time data to help users make informed decisions on delaying planned maintenance safely.

“Right now, it’s all about flexibility and ensuring that our customers are able to reliably keep the lights on while so many other factors in our lives remain unknown,” said Marco Sanchez, Vice President and Head of Intelligent Solutions at MHPS.

The current crisis has made it clear that plant operators need remote operating solutions to improve operations and protect employees. MHPS is focusing even more on its TOMONI Autonomous Power Plant initiative.

“Going forward, we expect many inspection and maintenance tasks will be done from an offsite location instead of in person,” said Sanchez. Both artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning will allow the knowledge of today’s experts to be captured for the future.”

Sanchez’s advice to others in the turbomachinery sector? Flexible contingency options are needed in case of future disruptions. This should include cyber-secure communication channels with sufficient bandwidth for the desired level of implementation.

Marco Sanchez and other industry leaders participated in a set of interviews for an upcoming story on turbomachinery industry response to the Covid crisis called "Weathering the Storm," to appear in the June/July 2020 issue of Turbomachinery International Magazine.