Mitsubishi Corporation Power and Kansai Electric to Start Work on Biomass Power Generation Plant

Mitsubishi Corporation Power and Kansai Electric to Start Work on Biomass Power Generation Plant

A current illustration of Aioi Power Station
TOKYO, Oct 30, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - Mitsubishi Corporation Power Ltd (MCP), a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation (MC), has commenced work required to build a new biomass power generation plant in western Japan. The project is being executed through Aioi Bioenergy Corporation (Aioi Bioenergy), a joint venture established with The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc (KEPCO) in April 2017.

We are pleased to announce that Aioi Bioenergy has reached an agreement with lenders for the procurement of a loan under a non-recourse project finance scheme, and this has enabled Aioi Bioenergy to embark on plant design and procurement of equipment.

This project will operate Unit 2 of Aioi Power Station, located in Hyogo Prefecture (capacity: 375 MW), after facilitating conversion from its current use of heavy or crude oil as fuel sources to the use of woody biomass. The Unit has been offline since April 1, 2018, but will fire up once the refurbishing and construction of boilers, fuel conveyer systems and turbines as well as the replacement of relevant plant components and other necessary installations are complete. Operations as a biomass power generation facility are slated to commence on January, 2023 for a 20-year period.

The biomass power generation plant will be fueled using natural wood pellets. This will not only contribute to controlling carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions(1) but will also allow the facility to operate as a base load plant.

MC collaborates with its affiliated companies to develop and operate renewable power plants around the world, with MCP at the forefront of its renewables business in the Japanese market through initiatives such as in solar and wind energy. This project falls under the umbrella of those initiatives.

Consistent with its strategic commitment to simultaneously generating economic, societal and environmental value, MC's aim is to accelerate progress towards making renewable energy surpass 20% of its total attributable power generation by 2030.

(1) Although biomass power generation emits CO2 during combustion, the fact that the same trees absorb CO2 while growing up offsets this, resulting in a balance of zero added CO2 emitted into the atmosphere, a state referred to as carbon neutral.

About Mitsubishi Corporation

Mitsubishi Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, is a global integrated business enterprise that develops and operates business across virtually every industry including industrial finance, energy, metals, machinery, chemicals, foods, and environmental business. Mitsubishi Corporation's current activities are expanding far beyond its traditional trading operations as its diverse business ranges from natural resources development to investment in retail business, infrastructure, financial products and manufacturing of industrial goods. For more information on Mitsubishi Corporation, please visit the company's website at https://www.mitsubishicorp.com/jp/en/.

Contact:
Mitsubishi Corporation Telephone:+81-3-3210-2171 Facsimile:+81-3-5252-7705

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