Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ (MHI) Mitsubishi Power has begun operations at the second of four units at the 2.65GW Rayong plant, a combined-cycle, natural gas-fired power plant in Rayong province, Thailand.

Operations began in early October 2023 and follow the start of operations at the first unit at the end of March.

The Rayong plant is located 130km from Thailand’s capital, Bangkok. The project is owned and operated by Gulf PD, a joint venture between Thailand’s Gulf Energy Development and Japan’s Mitsui.

Rayong has a sister plant, Chonburi, powered by four M701JAC gas turbines with a total output of 2.65GW.

Located in Chonburi province, the plant completed construction in October 2022 and is currently operating stably.

The overall project includes two gas turbine combined-cycle plants, each with four power trains comprising a gas turbine, steam turbine, heat recovery steam generator and generator.

Mitsubishi Power has installed its M701JAC unit at the power plant. It is the sixth unit to be installed of the eight planned at the Rayong and Chonburi sites.

The orders for the eight gas turbine units, totalling 5.3GW of capacity, were secured by the company in 2018.

Construction on the remaining units will move ahead with operations expected to begin in the later part of 2024.

Power generated from both Rayong and Chonburi will be sold to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.

Gulf Energy Development chief project development officer Worapong Vivatanavanich stated: “As with the previous project in Chonburi Province, we faced several challenges, but were able to draw on our previous experience in executing the project.

“I commend the fact that the second unit started operation as originally scheduled. Going forward, based on a strong relationship of trust, I am confident that we will be able to complete the entire project as scheduled.”

Mitsubishi Power (Thailand) president and managing director Akira Takahashi stated: “Utilising the know-how gained through the construction of the two power plants, under the leadership of Gulf Energy Development, the companies worked as a team to achieve a successful start of operations.

“Going forward, we will continue to make every effort to ensure that all systems are in operation as scheduled and are operating smoothly. We will also build a reliable system to support long-term operation, maintenance and inspection following the start-up of operations.”