Inside a building the size of an aircraft hangar, workers are rushing to make the finishing touches to a giant burgundy casing before its centrepiece is installed — a 100-tonne turbine rotor.
Composed of thousands of millimetre-precision parts manufactured and assembled over at least two years, the gas turbines weigh more than a Boeing 747. The factory in Takasago, in rural western Japan, is in the midst of a daunting battle to increase production to its highest level ever.
At certain times in past years, visitors to the sprawling assembly plant owned by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries would have seen little to no activity at all inside this room.