Suncor Energy is seeking to deploy an advanced class gas turbine technology from Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) to reduce carbon emissions from its Canadian oil sands bitumen production.

The Canadian energy company has issued a letter of intent in this regard to buy MHPS JAC gas turbine technology after selecting MHPS through a competitive bidding process.

Suncor is seeking to order two JAC air-cooled gas turbines which will be installed alongside two heat recovery steam generators (HRSG) in a co-generation plant at its base plant oil sands mine, located near Fort McMurray in the Canadian province of Alberta.

MHPS said that the delivery of the equipment will depend on finalization of formal agreements and final project sanction decision by Suncor.

The company expects its JAC gas turbines to generate power to a new, more cost-effective and carbon-efficient process for bitumen production and power production in the Canadian oil sands.

The installed JAC gas turbines, fueled by natural gas, will be able to produce up to 80MW of power using the JAC gas turbine technology, said MHPS.

On the other hand, the waste heat generated by the gas turbines will be utilized to create steam, which in turn, will provide heat to the oil sands. Through this method, the bitumen is separated, thereby boosting the efficiency of the current production of nearly 350,000 barrels of bitumen per day, said MHPS.

The company also expects its gas turbine technology to help in significantly bringing down CO2 emissions, the equivalent of taking of 537,000 cars from the road every year. Apart from that, the efficiency of the produced energy will be 85% with the generated power enough to cover more than 700,000 Alberta homes, said the company.

MHPS will also deliver its digital power solution technology to Suncor. This, MHPS said will enable it to monitor the equipment and offer predictive analytics, machine learning and adaptive controls technology.

In mid-February, MHPS was selected to provide its M501 JAC gas turbine for the 466MW Vale Azul II project in Brazil.