The 75MW Yatsushiro biomass power plant in Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan, commenced commercial operations on June 16.
Yatsushiro aims to generate approximately 480 GWh per year and will sell electricity under Japan’s feed-in-tariff scheme for the next 20 years. It consumes 240,000 tonnes per year of wood pellets, primarily imported from Southeast Asia including Vietnam, and 60,000 tonnes per year of domestically produced wood chips.
The power plant was constructed by Japan’s engineering firm IHI, which began building in April 2022. IHI will also be responsible for regular maintenance and inspections.
Ownership of Yatsushiro is divided among Chubu Electric Power (49%), Toho Gas (37%), and energy joint venture Ene-Vision (14%). Ene-Vision is majority-owned by Toyota Tsusho (56.5%), with the remainder held by Yanmar (26.1%), Toyotsu Machinery (8.7%), and Toho Gas (8.7%).
Two additional biomass power plants are scheduled to come online in Japan this summer: Renova’s 75MW Omaezaki project in Shizuoka in July, and the 50MW Ozu project in Ehime operated by Japanese upstream firm Japex and its partners in August.
