Japan-headed power utility Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc., has announced that it has decided to co-fire wood pellets at unit 5 of its coal-fired Taketoyo Thermal Power Plant in Taketoyo City, Aichi Prefecture. The 1 GWe unit is scheduled to start operating commercially in March 2022.
According to a statement, Chubu Electric Power has decided to generate power through the “co-firing of woody biomass” at Taketoyo Thermal Power Plant Unit 5 and that a “replacement plan” is ongoing to render the unit dedicated to coal-fired thermal power.
The 1 GWe coal-fired unit is scheduled to start operating commercially in March 2022. Co-firing with wood pellets at around 17 percent rate will require around 500 000 tonnes of pellets per annum and is expected to reduce fossil carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 900 000 tonnes per annum compared with an exclusive coal-firing system.