This project generates electricity from biogas generated from the methane fermentation of food waste from Akita City, in order to contribute to the local community. The aim is to use this to provide a stable regional energy source that is unaffected by drops in waste treatment prices by local bodies, the weather, or the time of day. In addition, by using methane fermentation on food waste which would previously have been incinerated, the load on the existing aging waste incineration facilities can be reduced, allowing them to operate for longer.
Hitachi Zosen is both investing 500 million yen in NEJ and contracting the construction work and operational management work for the methane fermentation biomass-to-gas power plant from NEJ. The methane fermentation process for this power plant generates power from biogas generated from food waste sourced from hotels, restaurants, food processing companies, schools, hospitals, and other places, using Hitachi Zosen’s proprietary WTM System technology to ferment methane at high speeds.
The annual amount of power generated from this project that can be purchased is about 5,230,000 kW, equivalent to the amount of power consumed by 1,130 standard households. This electricity is scheduled to be sold to power companies using the Feed-in Tariff system.
