Press archive 2008

Duisburg, 1 September  Premier at the Hitachi Power Office (HPO. For the first time training representatives, Works Council, Board of Directors, Head of Human Resources and trainees of the current age-groups welcomed the six new apprentice trainees at the beginning of their occupational life at the Duisburg Inner Harbor. Training for the last apprentice trainee year began, in fact, at the Duisburger Str. in Oberhausen. Every year since 2004, the company has taken on six new trainees as office communication clerks, industrial clerks and technical draughtspeople.

At the beginning of their first working day at the Hitachi Power Office on September 1 and following a "warm welcome", Klaus J. Schmitz, Managing Director of Hitachi Power Europe (HPE) and Wolfgang Ringelband, Chairman of the Works Council, briefly presented the company to the trainees. After the official welcome, the trainees – in a relaxed atmosphere - then got to know instructors, training representatives and other key people who will be monitoring them throughout their training. The instructors and training representatives are available to help the trainees in all matters of training and to support them during their work in the operating departments.

New to the programme was the hand-over of donations to four charitable organizations from Oberhausen and Duisburg. As part of the trainees welcoming ceremony, the company wishes to stress to young people at HPE the importance of local welfare commitments for an internationally operating company. The local charitable thought is one very much in line with the corporate philosophy of principal shareholder Hitachi Ltd. From 2004 Hitachi Power Europe has donated EUR 2,000-- each year to the Oberhausener Tafel, Friedensdorf International and Kinderdorf Rio. Following the move to the Inner Harbor, HPE has now also given consideration to the Duisburger Tafel. One of the inside courtyards at HPO provided almost a daylight setting for the donation hand-over in surroundings both relaxed and friendly. Each of the charitable organization representatives sketched in their work and thanked the company.

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Poland/Tokyo, July 17, 2008 - Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT / TSE:6501) today announced that it has secured an order for the construction of a Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) system for the Kozienice coal-fired power plant unit no.10 (500MW) near Warsaw in Poland in partnership with Energo Montaz. Polnoc S.A.( EMP) The total contract amount is EURO net 77,33 million (Approx. PLN 260,86 million) and commercial operations will commence from the beginning of 2011.

In Europe, the regulation for sulphur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) is increasingly far-reaching and European electric power companies need to install systems to ensure FGD and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR). Hitachi’s FGD can remove SOx by more than 90%, which helps to prevent air pollution.

Kozienice Power Station is located 80km from Warsaw and is one of the largest power stations (10units: 2,860MW) in Poland. In June 2006 Hitachi was contracted to deliver a 800MW FGD solution for units four to eight of the same power plant, which is the largest in Poland and the largest of its class in Europe. The contract was successfully completed in January 2007. For the new FGD system, Hitachi Group company, Babcock Hitachi K.K. will complete the design, supply the major equipment and be responsible for project management and commissioning. EMP will be responsible for the civil engineering side of the operations and erection work.

Hitachi, Ltd. and its European subsidiary Hitachi Power Europe GmbH (responsible for Europe, Middle East and Africa markets) are committed to developing solutions that will benefit operators in the European power marketplace and that have a beneficial impact on the environment.

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Duisburg, 2008-04-17  Donges SteelTec GmbH, a subsidiary of Hitachi Power Europe GmbH, has acquired significant assets, the references, know-how as well as the operating media and means of production of insolvent Donges Stahlbau GmbH (Darmstadt). Donges SteelTec GmbH also owns the plant premises. The workforce of Donges Stahlbau GmbH has been taken on by Donges SteelTec GmbH. 

"Extending the value-added chain is a vital part of our corporate strategy", is one of the explanations offered by Klaus Dieter Rennert, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hitachi Power Europe GmbH, for the acquisition. He added that the investment fitted excellently into the company's long-term development.

Wolfgang Marschewski (as Chairman) and Martin Michler have been appointed to the Board of Directors of Donges SteelTec GmbH. Mr. Marschewski is a Director on the Board of Hitachi Power Europe GmbH, Mr. Michler is Head of Corporate Strategy.  

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Duisburg, Hannover, Brüssel, 2008-04-17 Electrabel, E.ON Kraftwerke and Hitachi intend to cooperate in a joint research project. Target of the project is to design, build and operate a test facility to investigate the behaviour of different solvents in the process for CO2 capture from flue gases. The main aim of the project is the execution of scrubbing tests under real flue gas conditions with different chemical solvents.

The test facility shall be able to treat up to 5,000 Nm³/h flue gas under real conditions and shall be operated during four years alternatively for periods of 12 to 24 months on a site of Electrabel and a site of E.ON Kraftwerke. The pilot installation can move to locations in Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium or other European countries whatever is technically most interesting.

Hitachi Power Europe will be responsible for the design, set up and the operation of the test facility and put at disposal sufficient shift personal for operating the test program. The test facility is a part of the global Hitachi R&D strategy for Power Systems. Targets are increase of efficiency especially for turbine and steam generator and on the other side CO2 capture and reduction of emissions in general. Hitachi Power Europe is active in most relevant European and national research initiatives and collaborates very close with German Universities which are active in the field of materials, process improvement and CO2 capture for climate protection.

Electrabel and EON Kraftwerke will integrate the test facility in their power plants as to perform the test programs under real conditions. The relatively large scale of the test installation will deliver reliable data as to allow scale-up.

In order to reconcile competitiveness, security of energy supply and the fight against climate change, the utilities Electrabel and E.ON Kraftwerke are basing their strategy on a diversification of energy sources and sustainable and flexible solutions. Electrabel and E.ON Kraftwerke want to maintain also in future a high fuel flexibility that currently characterizes its electric power plants. In this framework, they are interested in building knowledge and hands-on experience in Post Combustion Capture, to improve this process and prepare for possible subsequent scale-up for Post Combustion Capture on new to build or existing plants.

Electrabel is today one of the best-in-class electricity producers for limitation of CO2 emissions per kWh (report PwC - Enerpresse - Le Quotidien de l’Energie). With this pilot project, the company is clearly showing its intention to keep its leading position in terms of limitation of CO2 in the future.

E.ON intends to halve their specific CO2-emissions per kilowatt-hour by 2030 in comparison to 1990. In order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal power plants significantly E.ON plans to build coal power plants from 2020 applying carbon capture and storage technology (CCS). At the moment E.ON is involved in 44 projects concerned CCS. The investment therefore amounts to 55 million Euro.

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Duisburg/Boxber, 8 February 2008 Steel structure erection of the world's most up-to-date and efficient steam generator in its class has begun on the site for the new R power plant unit in Boxberg. The baton is thus being passed on from the concrete constructors to the steel structure joint venture of Plauen Stahl Technologie and Pirson Montage AG as sub-contractors of Hitachi Power Europe (HPE). Capital expenditure on the steam generator amounts to EUR 275m – just under a third of the total project costs running to EUR 900m.

"Unit R is developing faster than we had hoped thanks to the good weather", said Reinhardt Hassa, Spokesman for Vattenfall Europe Mining & Generation. "Under our clean-coal strategy, commissioning the new power plant unit from 2010 allows us to make a major contribution to raising energy efficiency and protecting the environment" Klaus-Dieter Rennert, Managing Director of HPE, emphasized the following at the start of erection work: "We are full of enthusiasm and energy working on this super-modern steam generator. Thanks to obtaining the contract early on from Vattenfall, we have been able to secure excellent suppliers - with many coming from the local region. This, and our efficient Project Management, makes us flexible in constructing the steam generator and we have been able to react positively to the mild winter", continued Mr. Rennert.

The 43.7% plus net efficiency of the 675MW unit will represent a peak figure and one determining the state-of-the-art. Much of the focus this year in construction will be on starting turbine erection work in July and also on starting with instrumentation & control and equipment of all the other components. The unit will be put into operation in 2009 and connected to the power grid one year later. Continuous operations are scheduled for the unit from 2011 onwards.

The Boxberg power plant in the Lower Silesian District of Oberlausitz is ranked as a principal power producer in Vattenfall Europe Mining & Generation's portfolio. It has supplied lignite-generated electricity into the power grid since 1971. Two 500 MW units revamped with modern environmental engineering systems for long-term operations and a 900 MW installation placed into service in 2000 supply up to 15.6 billion kWh of electricity a year.  

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