Wyoming Coal Could be Used for New IGCC Power Plants in Japan

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The recent announcement by Mitsubishi Corporation (Tokyo, Japan) that it was forming partnerships to own and operate two state-of-the-art integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plants in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, begs the question of where the coal will be sourced. And while project proponents have yet to answer that question, they have proven during demonstration tests that the plants could use a variety of bituminous and subbituminous coals. Subbituminous coals are preferred as they are generally cheaper and have a low ash melting point.

Powder River Basin coal has been tested on the 250-megawatt (MW) IGCC demonstration Plant unit #10 at the Nakoso Power Station in Iwaki, Japan, which is owned by the Joban Joint Power Company Limited. Other coals tested include those sourced from Canada, China, Colombia, Indonesia and Russia.

It is estimated that the new plants would each utilize about 3,600 tons per day.

The first project will be 540-megawatt IGCC power plant at the Nakoso Power Station in Iwaki, Japan, which is owned by the Joban Join Power Company Limited. Nakoso IGCC Power GK was established with capital from the five partners - Mitsubishi Corporation Power Ltd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. and Joban Joint Power Co., Ltd., and inherited the environmental approvals which were secured by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. and Joban Joint Power Co., Ltd. following an assessment undertaken at the Nakoso site. The Nakoso project is scheduled to come online in 2020.

The second project, Hirono IGCC Power GK was established with capital from the four of the partners - Mitsubishi Corporation Power Ltd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc., and inherited the environmental approvals which were secured by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. following an assessment undertaken at the Hirono site. It is scheduled to come online in 2021.

Combined, the projects will require an investment of more than $2.8 billion.

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