The Hatchobaru Geothermal Power Station in Oita Prefecture, Japan (source: Kyuden Mirai)
Kyuden Mirai has signed another offsite PPA for geothermal power to be supplied to a packaging manufacturing facility in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa, Japan.
An offsite geothermal power purchase agreement (PPA) has been signed between Kyuden Mirai Energy (Kyuden Mirai), Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), and packaging manufacturer Daiwa Can. The 5-year contract is for the supply of geothermal power to the manufacturing plant of Daiwa Can in Sagamahira City in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
According to the structure of the PPA, geothermal power will come from the geothermal power plants owned and operated by Kyuden Mirai. This will then be distributed through TEPCO, a retail electricity provider, who will then supply it to the Daiwa Can manufacturing facility.
Daiwa Can is already receiving electricity from renewable energy sources such as solar power, biomass, and hydroelectric power. The addition of geothermal power helps provide baseload capacity to the facility’s operations. Geothermal power will be covering majority of the electricity consumed at the factory during peak hours. This also helps increase the renewable energy ratio in the electricity used in the manufacturing site, contributing to both decarbonization and operation stability goals.
Another contributing factor to securing geothermal power is the fact that there is no longer any room to expand the on-site installation of rooftop solar power generation equipment at the Daiwa Can manufacturing facility. Therefore, an off-site PPA was viewed as a solution to increasing renewable energy use without expanding the footprint of the manufacturing site.
Kyuden currently operates four geothermal power plants in Japan – the Hatchobaru Power Station (110 MW), Takigami Power Station (27.5 MW), Yamakawa Power Station (30 MW), and Ogiri Power Station (30 MW). The company had also previously signed two offsite corporate PPAs, specifically with realty investment companies Tokyo Tatemono and Japan Prime Realty Investment Corporation.