J-Power to Rehabilitate Takehara Thermal Power Plant in Hiroshima

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Coal currently accounts for roughly 25% of electricity generation in Japan, which has more than 20 active coal-fired plants. J-Power (TYO:9513) (Tokyo), formally known as the Electric Power Development Company Limited, owns and operates seven of those power plants, with a total coal-fired capacity of about 8 gigawatts (GW). The Takehara thermal power plant, which is in the Hiroshima prefecture, is home to J-Power's oldest operational coal-fired unit and is on the books for rehabilitation.

Last year, J-Power announced a $1.2 billion plan to renovate the Takehara power plant by building a new unit to replace the aging units 1 and 2, which have a total generation capacity of 600 megawatts (MW). The new unit, scheduled to undergo construction in 2014, will have a capacity of 600 MW on its own. Until completion, which is scheduled for 2020, units 1 and 2 will remain online to maintain Takehara power plant's output of 1,300 MW. After completion, the old units will be taken offline and dismantled.

The new unit will be geared toward a low-carbon policy, and will improve the reduction rates of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, as well as energy efficiency. J-Power is planning to incorporate the use of an ultra-supercritical, circular-fluidized bed (USC CFB) boiler in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. CFBs are becoming a more efficient choice for coal-fired plants; lower firing temperatures are used to prevent the escape of nitrogen oxide emissions, and limestone columns are used to absorb sulfur dioxide emissions. For more information on CFBs, read the December 14, 2010, article New Coal Boiler Technology Could Bring Cleaner Energy in South Korea.

J-Power is in the midst of constructing a new nuclear power station in the Aomori prefecture, which is in northern Japan. Construction began in 2009, and the new power station will generate 1,383 MW when finished in 2014. Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy Limited (Hiroshima, Japan) is working with J-Power on the project, which is estimated to cost $1.5 billion.

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