NEWS

Order Received for Power Plant Run by 100% Biomass Fuel

November 27, 2008

Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd., (President: Yoshinobu Nakamura) announces that the company received an order from KAWASAKI BIOMASS ELECTRIC POWER CORPORATION a company established as a joint venture by three companies for the construction of a biomass electric power generating facility. The three companies are Sumitomo Joint Electric Power Co., Ltd.; Sumitomo Forestry Co., Ltd.; and Fuluhashi EPO Corporation.

This new electric power generating facility is to be totally dedicated to biomass firing, using wood chip fuels only*1. Since no fossil fuels, such as coal, are used, this facility is considered to be a clean power plant that contributes towards reducing carbon dioxide emissions for the purpose of preventing global warming. Furthermore, since biomass fuel can now be used effectively within the local area, even though it had in the past been shipped out from the area near the construction sites (presently Kawasaki City of Kanagawa Prefecture) to other prefectures, carbon dioxide generated by the transportation can be suppressed, also contributing to a reduction to the environmental burden.

The scope of the received order includes the design, fabrication, and installation of a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler and overall turbine generator, with operations planned to start in February 2011. The CFB boiler, the main equipment can utilize biomass fuels, in which high efficiency and stable combustion was difficult to attain with conventional boiler technologies.

Following a technical collaboration agreement signed with Foster Wheeler Global Power Group of the United States in December 2001, Sumitomo Heavy Industries has delivered numerous CFB boilers that use biomass and recycled fuel, capturing the top share of this field within the domestic market. This order indicates that SHI's performance record has been positively evaluated.

Taking advantage of the characteristic of CFB boilers, high degree of adaptability to electric power generated by biomass and recycled fuels, Sumitomo Heavy Industries intends to make further contributions to the global environment by actively spreading the supply of CFB boilers not only domestically, but also globally.


[Summary of the facility]
Boiler type: Circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler
Power Generation: 33,000 kW
Maximum continuous steam generation of boiler: 137 tons per hour
Main steam pressure: 10.2 MPag
Main steam temperature: 513oC
Electric power generating method: Steam turbine
Planned operation start: February 2011

*Note 1:
Organic (bio) resources derived from the cuttings of tree thinning, sawmill wood chips, construction and demolition waste, and sludge, which absorb carbon dioxide during the course of growth through photosynthesis, are considered to be renewable energy that does not increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, even when combusted as fuel for electric power generation.

Power Plant Run by 100% Biomass Fuel