SAVANNAH — A major Japanese manufacturer is celebrating the completion of the first phase of its gas-powered turbine plant near Savannah.

The $325 million plant owned by Mitsubishi Power Systems is the company's first gas turbine plant outside Japan. Company executives attended a dedication ceremony at the plant Wednesday, marking the end of its first phase of construction.

Economic developers wooed Mitsubishi to coastal Georgia in 2009. The plant, which makes giant turbines used by power plants to generate electricity, is located on a vast industrial site west of Savannah near the intersections of Interstates 16 and 95.

Mitsubishi says the plant will hire 500 workers by the time the final construction phase is complete, which is scheduled to happen next year.