Kawasaki Receives Order for Steam Turbine for Generator Driven from Nippon Paper Industries

Tokyo, July, 2, 2024 — Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced today its receipt of an order from Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. for a Steam turbine to be used at their Soka Mill. The new steam turbine will have an electric power generation output of 5.5 megawatts and is scheduled to commence operations in September 2025.

This latest order will replace the extraction-condensing^*1,2 turbine system delivered by Kawasaki in 2002 with a back-pressure extraction^*3 turbine system. By sending all exhaust steam from the steam turbine into papermaking processes within the mill as well as for use at nearby Nippon Paper Group mills, the equipment will realize an optimized heat and electric energy balance for the Group as a whole.

Kawasaki earned this latest order thanks to high overall praise by Nippon Paper Industries based on over 20 years of experience using Kawasaki equipment and excellent after-sales services, as well as for Kawasaki’s proposal based on energy balance changes.

Kawasaki began manufacturing steam turbines for power generation in 1956. Since then, it has delivered products to a wide range of customers, including domestic and international electric power companies and other power producers, as well as biomass power plant operators, papermakers, cement manufacturers, and petrochemical manufacturers that have utilized the products for their captive power plants, waste-to-energy plants and other such applications. Moving forward, Kawasaki will continue its active pursuit of product and technology improvements as well as strengthening of plant engineering capabilities. Furthermore, the company will continue to pursue reliable energy supplies, environmental load reductions, and the realization of low- and zero-carbon-emission societies, while striving to precisely address a diverse array of market needs.

*1 Extraction is the removal of steam at an intermediate stage of a steam turbine, at a pressure appropriate for the target process.

*2 A condensing turbine cools (condenses) exhaust steam from a steam turbine using a condenser in order to boost the turbine’s output. This approach is generally used in a steam turbine generator set serving customers with high electric power demand.

*3 Back pressure refers to the reuse of a steam turbine’s exhaust steam within a process. This approach is generally used in a steam turbine generator set serving customers with high steam demand.