Wood biomass power generation in Abashiri City, 100% Hokkaido-produced chips
Abashiri Biomass Power Plant Unit 2
(Source: JAPEX)
Abashiri Biomass Power Plant Unit 3
(Source: JAPEX)
Whole view of the site
(Source: JAPEX)
"Abashiri Biomass Power Plant Unit 3" began commercial operation on March 8 in Abashiri City, Hokkaido. The project will be funded and promoted by six companies including Japan Petroleum Exploration (JAPEX).
The project will be based on Unit 2 of the Abashiri Biomass Power Plant, which began operation in October 2022, and Unit 3 of the same plant this time. The total output of the two units is 19.8MW (9.9MW each). 100% domestic wood chips from Hokkaido are used for fuel.
The generated electricity will be sold to the Hokkaido Electric Power Network based on the feed-in tariff (FIT) system. The annual power sales volume is expected to be approximately 140 million kWh, which is equivalent to approximately 47,000 ordinary households. The weighted average selling price of electricity is approximately 30 yen/kWh (approximately 75% for unused materials at 32 yen/kWh and approximately 25% for general materials at 24 yen/kWh). The power selling period is 20 years.
The business entities are the Abashiri Biomass No. 2 Power Plant LLC and the Abashiri Biomass No. 3 Power Plant LLC (SPC2). Investing companies and investment ratios are JAPEX 33.8%, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical 33.4%, SMFL Mirai Partners 20.0%, Tokyo Enesis 7.0%, WIND-SMILE 5.1%, and Nippon Paper Lumber 0.7%.
EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) services are provided by WIND-SMILE, and O&M (operation and maintenance) services are provided by WOOD-SMILE, a subsidiary of WIND-SMILE. JAPEX's 100% subsidiary Japex Green Energy and Tokyo Enesis (performance management) will be in charge of asset management, and Nippon Paper Lumber and WIND-SMILE will be in charge of fuel procurement.
