
Having secured a non-firm grid connection for an additional 2.3MW, J-POWER increased the maximum output of its Ashoro Hydroelectric Power Station in Ashoro Town, Hokkaido, from 40MW to 42.3MW on October 25, 2024, the company announced.
While J-POWER returned the power plant’s Units 2 and 1 into commercial operation after repowering them from 20MW to 21.25MW on February 19, 2021, and March 21, 2023, respectively, it was required to keep the power plant’s combined output limited to 40MW due to insufficient grid connection capacity.
Going forward, Ashoro Power Station will continue to have access to the grid through its original firm connection, which guarantees it 40MW of access, alongside the new 2.3MW available when there is free capacity.
Ashoro Power Station was commissioned in October 1955 and is one of J-POWER’s 11 hydroelectric power plants totaling 222.77MW in Hokkaido.
In total, J-POWER operates 61 hydroelectric power plants around Japan with a combined output of 8.58GW. Over half of the power plants were originally commissioned in the 1950s and 1960s.