Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) launched its third Global Service Center (GSC) for thermal power plants in the Philippines yesterday for its expansion in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

MHPS President and CEO Takato Nishizawa said they chose the Philippines as its site to provide operation and maintenance (O&M) services because the country is an English-speaking country with over 40 years of experience in engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) business.

“We need a good place and then expand, not only in Southeast Asia but also including the Middle East from here,” he said.

The GSC, located in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, will also offer single-point centralized management. Remote Monitoring Centers will optimize plant operations by decreasing its down time, MHPS managing director for Asia Pacific Masao Ishikawa said.

The GSC will also have a Service Solution Center, a one-stop shop for the clients’ demands such as the upkeep of maintenance parts and dispatching emergency personnel. It will also have a Training Center, which has operations simulator to oversee training response of its teams to further their skills and services.

“We are expecting what is happening in the machines. Predictions are based on data. From there we can easily locate parts needed to repair or replaced,” Ishikawa said.

MHPS has already performed centralized management for plants slated for commercial operations in the coming years, such as the 420-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant of Team Energy Corp. and Aboitiz Power Corp. in Pagbilao, Quezon, and the 630-MW Masinloc coal-fired plant owned by the Electricity Generating Public Co. Ltd. (EGCO) and AES Corp.’s Philippine unit.