<article><p class="lead">Japanese renewable power producer Erex is planning to start exporting palm kernel shells (PKS) through a tie-up with a local company. This is aimed to ensure stable supply of the fuel, ahead of the start-up of its new PKS-fired power plants in Japan. </p><p>Erex established joint venture Dharma Sumber Energi with Indonesian PKS supplier Dharma Energi Investama (DEI) earlier this month. The new firm, of which Erex owns 33pc through its subsidiary Erex Singapore, plans to start stockpiling in December and to begin exports in September 2021. </p><p>DEI is 99.9pc owned by Dharma Satya Nusantara that operates its own plantation in east Kalimantan and produces crude palm oil. </p><p>Indonesia is Japan's largest source of PKS. Japan imported 154,434t of PKS from Indonesia in August, which accounted for 79pc of Japan's imports. Imports from Indonesia fell by 15.6pc from July but rose by 48.3pc against a year earlier.</p><p>Erex is also involved with exporting PKS in Malaysia. The company has undisclosed shares in Malaysian PKS exporter Strait Green Energy, which began its <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/1796867">first PKS shipment</a> to Erex's 50MW Saiki plant in Oita in November 2018. </p><p>Erex is operating four biomass power plants, including the 20MW Tosa in Kochi, 75MW Buzen in Fukuoka, 75MW Ofunato in Iwate as well as the Saiki, all under the country's feed-in-tariff (FiT) scheme. The Tosa, Saiki and Ofunato plants use PKS as generation feedstock, while Buzen burns PKS and wood pellet. </p><p>Erex plans to start up the 50MW Uruma in Okinawa in July 2021 and the 75MW Sakaide in Kagawa in 2025-26. Both plants are designed to burn PKS and wood pellets. The company also aims to build a 300MW biomass power plant, without FiT support, by 2025. </p><p class="bylines">By Motoko Hasegawa</p></article>
