Japan’s Hokuriku Electric Power has begun tests of co-firing biomass, such as coal and wood pellets, the company has reported. This planning seeks to innovate in its energy generation processes.
Biomass co-firing tests
Hokuriku has been conducting these tests at the 700 MW Tsuruga No.2 unit in Fukui Prefecture, and will soon implement the same process at the 700 MW Nanao-Ohta No.2 unit, located in Ishikawa Prefecture.
Going forward, the company plans to increase biomass co-firing rates by biomass co-firing rates in both main coal-fired plants to 15% by the fiscal year from April 2030 to March 2031. This increase would result in a total capacity of 210 MW and a production of 1.5 million MWh per year.
The company anticipates a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, estimated at 1 million tons per year, compared to emissions produced by coal combustion and related emissions alone.
However, the company has not detailed the exact amount of wood pellets to be used. Since 2007 at Tsuruga and 2010 at Nanao-Ohta, the company has been using a mix of domestically produced charcoal and wood chips, although the proportion of biomass used so far was less than 1%.
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Source: Argus Media
Photo: Shutterstock