Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) signed an off-site PPA with Kyushu Electric Power’s Kyuden Mirai Energy as part of which it will from the latter’s geothermal power plants in Kyushu, the company announced on February 10, 2025.
According to the statement, power will be supplied from four power plants totaling 197.5MW, with Kyushu EPCO serving as the scheme’s retailer. The portion of the power generated at the power plants that will be supplied through the PPA and the power supply commencement date were not disclosed.
The largest asset that is part of the PPA, the 110MW Hatchobaru Power Plant in Kokonoe Town, Oita Prefecture, is also Japan’s largest geothermal power plant. Its first 55MW unit was commissioned in 1977 with the second following in 1990. The 27.5MW Takigami Power Plant in the same town, as well as the 30MW Yamagawa and Ogiri power plants in Kagoshima Prefecture are the remaining three.
This is the second geothermal PPA announced in Japan following a 22.8MW virtual PPA between undisclosed parties matched through Digital Grid’s auction platform earlier this year.
Among other ways of procuring renewable energy, SMBC signed an off-site PPA with Advance and TEPCO Energy Partner involving power supply from the former’s two solar power plants with a combined output of 4.9MW with the latter serving as the retailer. According to its 2024 ESG Data Book, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, of which SMBC is a part, consumed 198GWh of power in FY2023.
While the power plants that are part of the PPA for the majority of Kyuden Mirai Energy’s geothermal capacity, the company also has four smaller assets including the 14.5MW Otake Power Plant, the 2MW Hatchobaru Binary Power Plant, the 4.99MW Sugawara Binary Power Plant, and the 4.99MW Yamakawa Binary Power Plant. All except for the 2MW one are operated under the FIT scheme.
The company is also developing the 4.99MW Kirishima Eboshidake Binary Power Plant, which it plans to commission in FY2026.
