Japan’s Erex cuts biomass-fired power output in January

Spanish Market: Biomass, Electricity
14/02/25

Japanese renewable energy developer Erex's biomass-fired generation in January fell on the year, according to data released by the company on 13 February.

Erex's combined electricity output from the 50MW Saiki, the 75MW Buzen, and the 49NW Nakagusuku biomass-fired power plants dropped by 8pc on the year to 113GWh in January 2025. The company does not publish data for the 75MW Ofunato plant.

Erex's biomass-fired power generation capacity in January stood at 249MW, including Ofunato, burning mainly imported wood pellets and palm kernel shells (PKS). The 20MW Tosa plant has been shut down for an indefinite period since September 2024 because of aging facilities.

The company plans to bring two more biomass-fired power plants in Japan on line — the 75MW Sakaide Hayashida in June 2025 and the 300MW Niigata Mega Bio around 2029-30.

Erex plans to begin coal and biomass co-firing at the 149MW Itoigawa plant, which currently burns only coal. The plant has already conducted test runs using wood pellets, PKS, and sorghum pellets, but the company has not announced when it will start co-firing operations.

Erex also aims to start operations at the 20MW Hau Giang biomass-fired power plant in Vietnam by the end of this month. The plant will burn around 130,000 t/yr of rice husks.

By Takeshi Maeda

Erex's biomass-fired generation in January 2025
	Capacity(MW)	Generation(GWh)	Start of Operations
Saiki	50	32	Nov-16
Buzen	75	48	Jan-20
Nakagusuku	49	32	Jul-21
Ofunato	75	-	Jan-20
Total	249	113
Source: Erex

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13/03/25

Malaysia’s PKS exports fall in 2024, wood pellets rise

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13/03/25

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13/03/25

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