Emissions

Kaguchi succeeding Hosomi as CEO of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ Energy Systems unit

The parent of electricity generation equipment manufacturer Mitsubishi Power announced a major leadership change in its Energy Systems division.

The Japanese global firm reported today that Kentaro Hosomi will be stepping down as president and CEO of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Energy Systems. Hosomi is retiring effective March 31, according to the MHI news release.

One day later, Hitoshi Kaguchi will succeed Hosomi as CEO of Energy Systems. He also will serve as executive vice president and part-time board director with the CSO (chief strategy officer) division.

Kaguchi has been working as senior general manager in the MHI Growth Strategy Office. He and Hosomi have worked together on developing Mitsubishi’s aggressive strategy for implementary hydrogen-fueled power generation.

During a November call, Kaguchi echoed his predecessor’s forecast for major revenue growth in hydrogen-related businesses and carbon capture, utilization and store (CCUS). Hosomi touted his company as leading globally in CCUS, including at the Petra Nova facility in Texas (pictured), and focused on the challenges of using carbon-free hydrogen in the power generation mix.

“The power generation efficiency of the hydrogen gas turbine itself is comparable to that of existing natural gas-fired gas turbines,” Hosomi said during the Nov. 30 call. “On the other hand, the hydrogen production process uses a large amount of energy, so it is true that the system as a whole is less efficient than one based on fossil fuels; how to improve this is our key challenge.

“The main theme of the energy transition is to create a world striving towards net-zero carbon through widespread adoption of hydrogen,” he added. “Based on a range of technologies that we have developed over time we will reduce the cost of using hydrogen through improvements in the efficiency of the entire hydrogen value chain, from the supply of primary energy necessary for production to transportation, storage and utilization.”