
On November 2, 2024, the 53MW Chokai Minami Biomass Power Plant in Yuza Town, Yamagata Prefecture, began commercial operation, the project’s main shareholder Tohoku Electric Power announced on November 5, 2024.
The power plant is expected to generate 330GWh/year using primarily imported wood pellets alongside palm kernel shells. The generated power will be sold for 20 years through the feed-in-tariff scheme (FIT), which offered 24 yen plus tax per kWh when the power plant was FIT certified in February 2017.
Tohoku EPCO first announced that it would invest in the project, which was initially developed by Olympia, in April 2021. Olympia continues to own 15% of Chokai Minami Biomass Power Co., Ltd., the power plant’s owner, while Tohoku EPCO owns 75% and Shizuoka Gas & Power the remaining 10%.
The Chokai Minami Biomass Power Plant is Tohoku EPCO’s first operational biomass-only power plant. The company also has an 89% stake in the 2MW Yokote and Yuzawa biomass power plants in Akita Prefecture, which are expected to be commissioned in June and October 2026, respectively. Separately, it has a 20% stake in the 50MW Niigata Higashiko Biomass Power Plant, which is expected to begin commercial operation next month.