Singapore-headed Equis Development Pte Ltd (Equis), a leading renewable energy and waste infrastructure developer in Asia-Pacific, has announced that it has secured US$282 million (JPY 31.0 billion) of non-recourse project financing for the 50 MW Niigata East Port Biomass Power Plant (Project) in Niigata, Japan. Furthermore, Equis has issued a Notice to Proceed (NTP) for the commencement of engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) work.
According to a statement, the non-recourse project financing was committed by fourteen syndication banks and insurance companies, led by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and Daishi Hokuetsu Bank.
Onsite construction work is expected to commence in May 2022 and the new plant is scheduled to commence commercial operations in October 2024. The Project is Equis’ third sustainable biomass power project in Japan.
Equis has divested a 20 percent interest in the Project and formed a joint venture with Tohoku Electric Power Co. Inc (Tohoku Electric). Tohoku Electric will act as the owner’s engineer during the design and construction of the Project and will operate the Project under a long-term operations and maintenance (O&M) agreement.
Tohoku Electric owns and operates 11.29 GW of thermal power stations, including the Higashi-Niigata Thermal Power Station with a gross permitted capacity of 4 860 MW, situated less than 4 km from the Project site.
Toyo Engineering Corporation (TOYO) has been selected to engineer, procure and construct the Project under a fixed time, fixed price, and turnkey contract, while Andritz AG and Siemens Energy AG will supply the circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler island and steam turbine through TOYO respectively.
All three companies have considerable experience building biomass power plants globally and are currently designing, constructing, or commissioning eight other 50 MW – 75 MW biomass power plants in Japan, including two developed by Equis.
The Project will generate all electricity from sustainable wood pellets or palm kernel shells (PKS) certified for chain of custody by independent certification organizations recognized by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) and supplied by a large Japanese trading company under a 20-year, fixed quantity, and fixed-price contract.
The Project will sell 100 percent of the power produced to a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tohoku Electric as part of a 20-year, fixed tariff power purchase agreement under Japan’s renewable energy fixed feed-in-tariff (FIT) regime.
We are thrilled to be partnering with Tohoku Electric, the largest power producer in the region, to deliver a modern and clean baseload renewable power project to Niigata. Tohoku Electric is well respected in the region with a community-first approach as the project owner’s engineer, operation and maintenance provider. The 50 MW Niigata East Port Biomass Power Plant is Equis’ third sustainable biomass project in Japan and will utilise existing industrial infrastructure to create opportunities for the local community in the long term, said Hiroyuki Moriuchi, Equis’ Japan-based Investment Director.
Equis plans to commit over US$2 billion to the renewable energy and waste-related infrastructure sectors across Australia, Japan, and South Korea over the next two years. In Japan, Equis is currently developing a fourth project, the 50 MW Tomatoh Biomass Power Plant in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, which is expected to issue an NTP by the end of the year.
