MHI Compressor Acquires Turbomachinery Maintenance Company: AST Turbo AG

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor Corp. (MCO) successfully acquired all shares of AST Turbo AG (AST), a Switzerland-based company that specializes in rotating equipment maintenance services. AST conducts maintenance, inspection, and field services for rotating machinery such as compressors and steam turbines that drive compressors at resource and energy development sites, including the oil and gas sectors.

AST employs highly experienced technical supervisors and features advanced engineering capabilities, such as virtual assembly technology and 3D laser measurement. These technologies simulate the product assembly process on a computer, enabling the omission of certain on-site assembly steps and shortening inspection periods for higher plant availability. The company has a track record of projects in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and other regions globally.

MCO and AST have a long-term collaborative relationship and have jointly executed field services on several projects to date. Following the acquisition, AST’s current management team will leverage its existing customer and business foundation while integrating MCO’s technological expertise and know-how to enhance service quality and expand business operations. MCO aims to strengthen its field service system across international markets.

Rotating machinery, such as compressors, require after-sales services like the replacement of consumable parts, repairs, and inspections following installation and operation. Recently, customers have increasingly requested quicker inspection intervals to enhance equipment uptime, in addition to a wider use of virtual assembly technology and deployment of experienced supervisors.

Damhead Creek

In late January 2026, Mitsubishi Power successfully installed its Upgraded Reliability Package (URP) for VPI Energy’s 812-MW gas turbine combined-cycle (GTCC) power plant at Damhead Creek Power Station in Kent, England. The package includes an upgrade for the turbine control system and elements to improve start-up response, performance, and reliability at Damhead Creek’s natural gas-fired facility.

The package’s efficiency and reliability upgrades are important for gas turbines, especially since gas-fired power plants are increasingly leveraged as flexible assets to support intermittent renewable energy. This flexibility shift is taking place in the United Kingdom, with high amounts of renewable penetration forcing plants to frequently start and stop generation according to system requirements.

Mitsubishi Power originally delivered gas turbines for the Damhead Creek GTCC plant in 2000 and, after purchasing the plant in 2021, VPI Energy signed a service agreement with Mitsubishi Power to improve the site’s efficiency and reliability via a major investment. The broader service agreement includes maintenance, management, parts supply, and remote monitoring services for Damhead’s gas turbines, in addition to delivering the URP.

Steam Heat Pump

Turboden, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, successfully started the world’s largest steam-producing heat pump at delfort’s specialty paper mill. The system is now fully operational and overperforming with a coefficient of performance 10% higher than the expected value, marking a step forward in the decarbonization of energy-intensive industrial processes and industrial steam generation.

The project features a large-scale heat pump with mechanical vapor recompression capable of generating 12 MWth of superheated steam at 3.4 bar, raising the temperature up to 150 – 180 °C. It recovers low-grade waste heat from delfort’s industrial processes and upgrades the heat using CO₂-free electricity. As the largest steam-producing heat pump ever built, the system demonstrates the potential for CO₂-free heat technologies to replace fossil fuel-based boilers in industrial applications needing steam beyond 150 °C.