Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) has made the decision to launch a biomass power generation project, having come to terms on conditions for procuring fuel (wood pellets) and completing arrangements for a non-recourse project finance. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Mitsubishi Corporation Power Ltd. (MC Power), MC and its partners Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (Nippon Paper) and Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc. (Chubu Electric) established the Suzukawa Energy Center Ltd. (Suzukawa EC) in September 2013. The partners have been in discussions since then on developing a dedicated biomass power generation project at Suzukawa EC.
After converting Suzukawa EC’s facilities in Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture from coal to wood pellets, the project will use the facilities as a biomass power plant (Suzukawa EC went online in September 2016, with a rated output of 112,000 kW). In conjunction with Suzukawa EC’s existing boiler designed to fire both coal and biomass, turbine and fuel conveyance equipment, fuel-storage and other new equipment will be installed with an aim to commence dedicated wood-pellet power generation in April 2022.
By using biomass wood pellets as fuel, this project promises to help curb CO2 emissions and provide stable, uninterrupted base load power, something that has always been a challenge with renewable energy sources. It will also help Japan to achieve its desired energy mix, which includes an increased renewable energy percentage.
*When combusted, biomass releases CO2, which is in turn absorbed by plants. Because plants remove carbon from the atmosphere and then release it back into the atmosphere when they are burned, biomass is considered to be carbon neutral. Its use in power generation results in no net increase in the biosphere’s carbon concentration.
By combining renewable-energy and other relatively green power generation projects with digital technologies, MC is endeavoring not only to supply stable energy, but also to provide optimal energy use to customers in Japan and around the world with added value. The company is developing a range of renewable energy and other power generation businesses both at home and abroad. In Japan, MC Power is engaged in solar photovoltaic, wind, biomass and other renewable projects, an already impressive energy portfolio that this new biomass business should only strengthen in the years to come.
