DOOSAN SKODA POWER - Steam Turbines from Pilsen

Doosan Škoda Power Is Still Doing Well

Doosan Škoda Power is known as a modern, dynamic firm which supplies highly efficient steam turbines rightly ranked among the best worldwide. “We have been manufacturing steam turbines for more than a century and have worked all the operating experiences gained during that time into the design of our products,” says Jiří Šmondrk, Managing Director of Doosan Škoda Power.

Doosan Škoda Power is a modern, dynamic firm supplying highly efficient steam turbines which are rightly ranked among the best in the world market. Can you mention more details about these products? Wherein does their unique nature rest? The turbines are known for their extremely long service life and their practically 100 per cent reliability. They are often operated at reduced power levels, with the possibility of their rapid return to maximum out

put. These properties are greatly valued, especially when the turbines receive energy from the wind and sun, where the energy supply is often affected by fluctuations.

At the end of 2018, you celebrated a historic achievement, when you signed a contract for the delivery of a combined-cycle steam turbine for the power station in Lansing. It is the company´s historically first project on US territory. Has this contract opened

up the way for you to further contracts in that territory? Not for the time being, but it will come later. It is just a matter of time, following the accomplished and timely realisation of the Lansing project. In the USA, we have also managed to break through with our supplies of substitute rotors for gas turbines with expired service life. This is a very interesting segment.

You are an important Czech exporter, selling a significant part of its production to clients abroad. Do you think Czech products enjoy a good reputation in other countries? Turbines definitely do and so do our cars, machine tools etc. The rest of Czech products are not so visible in business we do.

You have a number of foreign reference orders. Which projects were among the most important in the past? Which territories are the most significant for you in terms of export? As regards our recent achievements, I especially appreciate our penetration of the Indonesian market and naturally our exports to the USA. Our contracts in Peru, Nigeria and, this year, in Japan and South Korea are also valuable.

You are also a firm which places emphasis on innovation and which is continually improving its products. What is your feeling about the current innovation pressure? This especially concerns the innovation of products and processes aimed at achieving optimum cost efficiency. We have started 3D printing, which is rather expensive for the time being and is suitable for automation processes, but its time will soon come.

What are your specific plans for the development of your company? What trends for the future can you see in your line of business? The conventional energy market is narrowing down and we increasingly have to compete with firms in China and India. Most of the material components and competitors come from those countries. If we want to succeed, we must not be lulled into complacency. Only maximum originality and ingenuity will assure our position in the steam turbine market.