Showa Shell Sekiyu (Tokyo; www.showa-shell.co.jp) has announced that it will build a thermal power plant fueled by woody biomass and palm kernel shells on the site of its former Ohgimachi plant at the Keihin refinery complex in Kawasaki City, Japan. This plant, coupled with the recent approval of the expansion of the LNG-fired Ohgishima Power Plant and solar power plants will result in Showa Shell making significant additions to its power generation portfolio in the next few years. Groundbreaking is planned for May 2014, with a project startup date of December 2015. According to Showa Shell, the plant will have a capacity of 300,000 MWh of power.
Being close to a major urban area, the project boasts infrastructural advantages, and its coastal location is convenient for ships to deliver fuel. Using environmentally friendly biomass fuel will help ease tight demand for electricity in Japan, and the project falls under the Japanese government’s renewable energy feed-in tariff scheme.