Strong U.S. and Asian Data Center Orders Propel Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Energy Sector
Demand from U.S. and Asian data center and semiconductor sectors drove Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to sizable year-over-year revenue gains in orders of its natural gas turbine combined cycle units.
The Japanese-based MHI reported an almost 10% increase in energy systems orders for the first half of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. The intake rose by about 675 billion Yen, or nearly US$4.4 billion in extra orders.
Contracts were finalized for 23 large-frame gas turbine units, more than double the pace of the previous fiscal year. Most of those orders came from U.S. and Asian customers, according to MHI’s earnings report.
"The strong growth MHI achieved in the first quarter continued through the first half of this fiscal year, with order intake, revenue, and business profit all up year-on-year, and net income marking an all-time high for the company," MHI Chief Financial Officer Hiroshi Nishio said in a statement. “We continue to see high demand for gas turbines particularly in the U.S., where new electricity demand from the data center buildout and other factors are driving capital expenditures at our utility customers.”
Meanwhile, orders decreased in several other sectors including plants and infrastructure systems, thermal and drive systems, aircraft, defense and space.
The success in gas turbine sales for industrial and data center customers pushed Mitsubishi to raise its future order intake forecast for the rest of the fiscal year by 850 billion Yen, or approximately US$5.52 billion
MHI is not the only power generation equipment manufacturer capturing unprecedented business in the data center power sector. Engine maker INNIO recently announced its largest order of Jenbacher engine sets in a deal with VoltraGrid which is contracted to supply power for future Oracle data centers.
We continue to see high demand for gas turbines particularly in the U.S., where new electricity demand from the data center buildout and other factors are driving capital expenditures at our utility customers.
Meanwhile, fuel-cell technology firm Bloom Energy is working with investment firm Brookfield on a $5 billion plan to supply gas and hydrogen power for data centers.
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Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor
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For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].
Rod Walton has spent 17 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.
Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World.
EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023
Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.