Tohoku Electric Power repowered Unit 3 of its hydroelectric Horai Power Plant located in Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture. The unit returned into commercial operation on January 30, 2025.
According to the statement, all of the equipment including the generator was replaced, which will help reduce the power plant’s downtime by making it easier to maintain and less prone to failures. “In addition, the efficiency of the turbine runner … has been improved, which is expected to lead to increased generation volume compared to before the repowering,” said Tohoku EPCO.
The power plant’s overall capacity remains, at 38.5MW, unchanged.
Tohoku EPCO plans to repower Unit 2 of the power plant commissioned in 1938 next. The work is expected to start this month with commissioning set for September 2027.
Horai Power Plant is one of Tohoku EPCO’s aging fleet of hydroelectric power plants. Like other operators, it has been repowering the assets to keep them in operation into the future. Separately from Horai Power Plant, Tohoku EPCO also repowered the sub-1MW Kabayame Power Station after over 100 years of operation.
