Fire-hit biomass plant in Japan to start up in 2025

Japan's 75MW Sodegaura biomass power plant, operated by Osaka Gas, will begin commercial operations around April-September 2025, following delays caused by a silo fire in January 2023.

The fire at the Sodegaura plant in Chiba prefecture happened during test runs, and Osaka Gas said on 3 July that the cause was the combustion of wood pellets stored for more than six months in two silos. The company has now put in place measures, including a nitrogen injection system that can prevent temperature increases.

Other measures include bringing pellets out of silos to lower their temperature every three months or so, with the exact duration depending on the season and other conditions.

The plant was initially supposed to begin commercial operations by the end of February 2023, but start-up was delayed by the fire. Osaka Gas only managed to put the fire out completely in May 2023. The company finished removing all remaining pellets from the silos in April this year — the pellets had absorbed sprayed water and swelled.

By Takeshi Maeda