Tohoku Electric Power shut down the 5.4MW hydroelectric Kamimatsuzawa Power Plant in Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture, on June 9, 2025, for decommissioning.
According to a statement issued the same day, the run-of-the-river asset commissioned in December 1957 was taken out of service due to its age and will be replaced by the 9.4MW New Kamimatsuzawa Power Plant, which has been under construction since March 2024 and is scheduled to be commissioned in November 2031.
The new power plant, first announced in April 2021, will reuse portions of the original assets including the conduit. It will take advantage of Komagome Dam, an auxiliary multipurpose dam project led by Aomori Prefecture and scheduled to be completed in 2031.
New Kamimatsuzawa is one of Tohoku EPCO’s efforts to develop 2GW of renewable capacity by the 2030s and to expand its legacy hydroelectric portfolio of over 200 power plants totaling about 2.5GW.
The company has also been repowering some older assets, including the 2.6MW Miyanohara Power Plant in Niigata Prefecture, and boosting capacity by increasing water flow at others, such as the now-14.8MW Gonai Power Plant in Akita Prefecture.
