Hokuriku Electric Power increased Nanao Ohta Thermal Power Station Unit 2’s biomass co-firing ratio to 15% from April 21, 2025.
The increase follows the completion of additional fuel storage silos and modification of facilities required to accommodate the change, Hokuriku EPCO said in a statement. Going forward, the power plant in Nanao City, Ishikawa Prefecture, is expected to generate about 750GWh annually using woody biomass.
Biomass-derived output will be sold under the feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme.
Co-firing at the 700MW coal-fired unit first began in September 2010, with about 17GWh annually having been attributable to biomass since then.
Nanao Ohta Thermal Power Station was commissioned in 1995 when its 500MW Unit 1 came online. Unit 2 followed in 1998. The first unit remains fully coal-fired.
As part of its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, Hokuriku EPCO has been developing new renewable and LNG assets, such as the planned 600MW unit at Toyama Shinko, its largest thermal power plant, as well as increasing biomass usage at its existing coal-fired power plants. Prior to Nanao Ohta, it increased co-firing ratio from about 1% to 15% at Tsuruga Thermal Power Station Unit 2.
