MHI Completes Final Turbine Shipment to Sanmen and Haiyang

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has completed the final shipment of turbine rotors for the first AP1000 nuclear power plants under construction in China. The Japanese engineering company held a ceremony at its Takasago Machinery Works to mark the completion of the order for turbine rotors for the four reactors under construction at Sanmen and Haiyang. The company secured the order jointly with China’s Harbin Power Equipment Company (HPEC) in 2007 and 2008, and began work on the turbine rotors – a core component of the turbine generator system – in 2009.

The steam turbine system comprises high- and low-pressure turbines which convert thermal energy from the steam produced in the reactor into kinetic energy, which is in turn converted into electrical energy in the generator. Steam flows first into high-pressure turbines and then into the low-pressure turbine system. The 16 turbine rotors supplied by MHI comprise 12 low-pressure and 4 high-pressure units, using MHI’s 54 inch (1.37 metre) turbine blades in the last stage of the low-pressure turbines.

MHI designed and manufactured the turbines for the two power plants, with HPEC taking responsibility for the turbine casings, piping and associated equipment. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation supplied generators for the first unit at both Sanmen and Haiyang, while Harbin Electric Machinery Company supplied the generator for the second unit at each site.

Supplied by Westinghouse, Haiyang 1 and 2 and Sanmen 1 and 2 are due to start up in 2014-2015 and form the first of a fleet of AP1000 reactors planned for China. Technology transfer to China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Corp (SNPTC) has formed a major part of the project.