[September 2006]  Mitsui Babcock has been awarded the contract for the steam generator and auxiliary equipment for Louisville Gas and Electric Company's (LG&E) and Kentucky Utilities' (KU) Trimble County 2 power plant in Kentucky. The 750MW supercritical clean coal plant will operate under high efficiency supercritical steam conditions, which provides substantial environmental benefits by improving plant efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions.

Mitsui Babcock's contract, valued at over £50m GBP (100m US dollars), will be managed by the EPC contractor, Bechtel Power Corporation on behalf of LG&E and KU. Work will commence immediately on the project, in order to meet the planned schedule for commercial operation of the plant in 2010.

Iain Miller, Chief Operating Officer, Mitsui Babcock, said: "The export potential for Mitsui Babcock clean coal technology powered plants is enormous. This contract demonstrates the growing importance of coal internationally. Coal provides the majority of China's energy and we have been exporting the technology there for many years. Consistently high gas prices are now resulting in coal being the fuel of choice for electricity generating capacity growth in the USA and Europe, using proven supercritical power plant and associated clean up equipment. Coal is certain to be playing a major part in the energy mix globally for the foreseeable future, long after we will have exhausted nuclear and gas supplies. With coal we have the means to achieve global emissions targets now in and into the future."

Barbara Lefebvre, Managing Director, Power Projects, at Mitsui Babcock, commented: "The plant, which will burn a mixture of sub-bit bituminous and bituminous coals, will be located at the existing Trimble County power station site, and will include world class clean coal environmental controls. The steam generator will be fitted with Mitsui Babcock advanced low NOx burners. Of particular significance in the combustion design for the boiler is the flexibility to burn a wide range of coals, while maintaining low emission levels, high steam generator efficiency, and long term life of the furnace pressure parts and other components."

The contract was awarded to Mitsui Babcock after strong international competition, and maintains the company's success as the world leading supplier of supercritical boiler technology, with projects for more than 20,000MW of supercritical boilers being awarded in the last three years. Mitsui Babcock (US) LLC, headquartered in Atlanta GA, will utilise the global network of Mitsui Babcock offices in the UK, and Asia, to execute the project.

Mitsui Babcock is a world wide organisation providing technology driven solutions and services. The award of this modern supercritical steam generator contract supports the company's commitment to provide clean coal emissions technology to our clients. Our ongoing investment in R&D ensures that best available technology is ready to meet anticipated environmental legislation, including parameters such as NOx, Mercury and CO2.

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