Mitsubishi brings M701 JAC online

Mitsubishi Power said on April 24, 2024 that it had begun commercial operation of the third M701JAC gas turbine at a gas turbine combined-cycle plant in Rayong province, Thailand. The unit is part of a larger Thailand project owned by a joint venture between Gulf Energy Development PCL and Mitsui & Co., with Gulf PD Company Limited operating the Rayong plant. Mitsubishi Power said the two-site project in Rayong and Chonburi would reach 5,300 megawatts across eight systems when complete. The start-up matters because it added another live operating reference for Mitsubishi Power’s large-frame JAC fleet in an international combined-cycle project. Turbomachinery Magazine reported the Rayong unit as a visible GTCC reference point, and Mitsubishi Power said six systems installed at the two Thailand sites had already accumulated 75,000 actual operating hours by April 2024. (power.mhi.com) ### Which unit actually came online in Rayong? The April 24, 2024 announcement covered unit three of four at the Rayong plant, not the first machine at the site. Mitsubishi Power said the Rayong facility is one of two Thailand GTCC plants in the broader contract and is located about 130 kilometers southeast of Bangkok. Earlier in the project, Turbomachinery Magazine reported that Mitsubishi Power had launched the first M701JAC unit at Rayong, describing it as the fifth of eight turbines under a 5.3-gigawatt order awarded in 2018. (turbomachinerymag.com) That sequence shows the April 2024 start-up was part of a staged build-out rather than a first-of-kind deployment. ### Who owns and operates the Thailand project? (power.mhi.com) Gulf Energy Development PCL and Mitsui & Co. are the owners of the Thailand GTCC project through a joint venture, according to Mitsubishi Power. Gulf PD Company Limited operates the Rayong plant, while the two-site development spans Rayong and Chonburi provinces. Mitsubishi Power said the full project consists of two GTCC power plants, each with four gas turbine units, steam turbines, heat recovery steam generators and generators. (turbomachinerymag.com) That structure is what gives the Rayong start-up relevance beyond a single gas turbine delivery: it is part of a full combined-cycle block reference. ### Why does this count as a commercial reference point? The 75,000-hour figure was the clearest operating marker in Mitsubishi Power’s April 2024 statement. (power.mhi.com) The company said six systems at the Rayong and Chonburi sites had reached that cumulative total, offering a field-performance data point that sales teams can cite in future GTCC competitions. Turbomachinery Magazine separately framed the Rayong start-up as another operating reference for the M701JAC platform in Thailand. (power.mhi.com) In combined-cycle procurement, fresh operating references are often used by manufacturers and customers as evidence of execution and fleet experience, though that commercial significance is an inference from the project facts rather than a direct company quote. ### What happened after the April 2024 start-up? Mitsubishi Power said in April 2024 that the eighth and final unit in Thailand was scheduled for completion by fall 2024. On October 9, 2024, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said the final eighth M701JAC unit had begun operation and that the 5,300-megawatt Thailand combined-cycle project was complete. The October 2024 update said the previous seven M701JAC units installed across Rayong and Chonburi had collectively operated for 100,000 hours. (turbomachinerymag.com) Mitsubishi Power also called the Thailand development its largest-ever completed order by capacity, giving the Rayong unit a place inside a finished eight-unit reference project rather than an incomplete construction story. (power.mhi.com 1) (power.mhi.com 2)