Japan-headed Ube Industries, Ltd, a diversified industrial conglomerate has announced that it has developed torrefied pellets from woody biomass for use in coal-fired power plants as a co-firing ratio of 10 percent or more on a caloric basis. The company has also decided to construct a demonstration facility for manufacturing torrefied pellets in Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, with an annual production capacity of 60 000 tonnes.
According to a statement April 19, the torrefaction facility will enable Ube Industries to conduct demonstration tests with the goal of marketing the pellets to conventional coal-fired power plants. The torrefied pellets will be tested at Ube Industries’ Okinoyama Coal Center and 216 MW coal-fired power plant.
Ube says that torrefied pellets are realizing a woody biomass fuel with greatly enhanced hydrophobic properties and grindability with coal. Whereas coal-fired power plants require specialized handling equipment to co-fire conventional woody biomass with coal, torrefied pellets can be handled like coal and co-fired without the need for specialized handling equipment.
Ube Industries’ goal in constructing the demonstration facilities is to commercialize torrefied pellets to reduce the burden on the environment and offer power plants a solution for co-storage, transport, pulverizing and co-firing of torrefied pellets with coal without the need for additional investment.
Ube Industries will import the woody biomass to be used as raw material at the demonstration facility, under a long-term contract with Canadian pellet producer Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc using the Port of Ube. In a separate statement April 19, Pinnacle says that it will supply 70 000 tonnes per annum of industrial wood pellets to Ube beginning in late 2019.
Japan has made a strong commitment to decarbonization, and biomass is poised to become an increasingly important part of the country’s energy mix. One-third of our CA$421 million in contracted backlog in 2017 was with customers in Japan, and this new contract with Ube further builds on our strong sales momentum in this growing market, said Robert McCurdy, Chief Executive Officer of Pinnacle.
