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MHPS SELECTED TO SUPPLY ADVANCED CLASS GAS TURBINE TECHNOLOGY TO CUT CARBON EMISSIONS FROM OIL SANDS BITUMEN PRODUCTION

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FORT MCMURRAY, ALBERTA, CANADA - (May 7, 2018) Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) announced that Suncor Energy has issued a Letter of Intent to purchase MHPS JAC gas turbine technology.

Subject to finalization of formal agreements and final project sanction decision by Suncor, the technology would power a new, more cost-effective and carbon-efficient process for bitumen production and power production in the Canadian oil sands.

The MHPS JAC gas turbine technology was selected through a competitive bidding process. If the project is sanctioned, two JAC gas turbines will be installed with two heat recovery steam generators (HRSG) in a co-generation facility at the company's base plant oil sands mine near Fort McMurray, Alberta.

The operation will involve a proprietary process that uses natural gas to generate up to 800 megawatts (MW) of electricity using MHPS JAC gas turbine technology. Waste heat from the gas turbine is used to create steam, which heats the oil sands to separate the sand from the bitumen. This process will improve the efficiency of the existing production of approximately 350,000 barrels of bitumen per day.

In addition, MHPS will provide their digital power solution technology.  This will allow MHPS to monitor the equipment and provide predictive analytics, machine learning and adaptive controls technology.

The new process is expected to result in a significant reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of removing 537,000 cars from the road every year. In addition, the efficiency of the energy produced will be 85% and the electricity produced will be enough to power more than 700,000 Alberta homes.