Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) has received a contract from Costa Rica's state utility Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE) to supply 55MW class steam turbine for a proposed geothermal project in the country.

Under the contract, MHPS will supply the turbine, which will be a core component of the Las Pailas II geothermal power plant.

The project is planned to be built in Guanacaste Province in the northwest region of the country.

In addition to supplying a generator, MHPS will deploy engineers to the site to provide technical advice in installation and commissioning of the equipment at the site.

The Las Pailas II site, which is located in close proximity to the Miravalles III geothermal power plant, is designed to generate clean power while helping in reducing the impact of climate change.

Spanish engineering firm Initec Energía is responsible for the engineering, procurement and construction management for the project.

MHPS has delivered equipment to two of Costa Rica's Miravalles geothermal plants to date with combined capacity of 32MW.

Till date, the company has received more than 100 orders from 13 countries in geothermal power generation.

As EPC contractor, MHPS has installed two geothermal plants in Mexico in the past two years.

In 2011, Ormat Technologies commissioned 42MW Las Pailas geothermal project for Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica (BCIE). The plant is operated by ICE.


Image: The Domo de San Pedro geothermal power plant in Mexico. Photo: courtesy of Grupo Dragon/Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd.