Hitachi Construction Machinery

Hitachi Construction Machinery Global
Hitachi Construction Machinery Global
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Energy is essential for our daily life and the activities of society.
With Japan having a low energy self-sufficiency ratio, soaring raw material prices caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and global instability have had a major impact on the country. Renewable energy, on the other hand, is seeing initiatives being accelerated with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, and there are high hopes that it can be an energy source for the next generation.

The general construction company Obayashi Corporation is working on expanding its business portfolio towards the goal of achieving a sustainable society through a core focus on its domestic construction business that includes the infrastructure that society needs in the form of office buildings, commercial facilities, dams, and railroads. One area that the company is concentrating resources into is the green energy business, and as part of this,  Obayashi Kamisu Biomass Power Plant, which started operating in February 2022, is working on the generation of electricity using wood pellets and PKS as fuel.

So why is Obayashi Corporation, a general construction company, generating electricity? Here we take a look at the sustainable story of the Obayashi Kamisu Biomass Power Plant that leverages the know-how and knowledge built up by the Obayashi Group to take on the challenge of a new field and create a path to the next generation.

To achieve carbon neutrality

As well as causing major damage, the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred in 2011 laid bare the issues that need to be addressed in terms of taking actions against global warming and other aspects of climate change and Japan’s energy demand and supply structure. In light of this, Japan declared in October 2020 that toward becoming a decarbonized society, it would become carbon neutral with zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. The key to achieving this lies in strengthening the generation of electricity using new resources that include renewable energy, hydrogen, and ammonia. Founded in 1892, Obayashi Corporation defines its mission as being to realize a sustainable society as a leading environmentally friendly company, and as well as building the infrastructure that society needs through its construction business, the company has taken on the challenge of finding solutions to global environmental issues and has undertaken work in a wide variety of businesses. Currently, the company is focusing on the generation of electricity from renewable energy in the form of solar power, wind power, woody biomass*1 power, and geothermal power, in addition to a project to build a supply chain for hydrogen from manufacturing it using renewable energy-derived electricity to supply. By undertaking such green energy projects, Obayashi Corporation aims to contribute to the achievement of carbon neutrality while also using the knowledge and know-how it has acquired as a business to provide solutions that meet a range of needs towards the goal of decarbonization.

*1; Biomass refers to a resource that comes from biological organisms, and examples of the wide range of biomass used as a resource include wood from forest thinning, livestock waste, and waste food products. Biomass derived from wood is referred to as “woody biomass”.

Exclusively burning imported biomass to generate electricity

When Obayashi Kamisu Biomass Power Plant commenced operations in the Kashima Rinkai Industrial Zone in the city of Kamisu in Ibaraki Prefecture in February 2022, it became Obayashi Corporation’s second biomass power plant after Otsuki Biomass Power Plant (Otsuki City, Yamanashi Prefecture) that commenced operations in December 2018. It has a generation capacity of 51.5MW (rated output), which is the equivalent of the electrical power consumed by approximately 110,000 households*2. The unique feature of this power plant is its use of imported biomass fuel that is delivered to the adjacent Kashima Port. While demand is growing for imported biomass with each passing year, there is an increasing necessity to ensure sustainability and traceability in its utilization, and it includes an obligation to provide proof of origin, and so transparency in work must be ensured when using imported biomass. For its fuel, the Obayashi Kamisu Biomass Power Plant uses wood pellets that are certified as sustainable by an independent certification body and imported from Southeast Asia and North America, and PKS, which is the remnants of shells from oil palm fruit generated in the production process for palm oil. These fuels are combusted and the heat energy is used to produce steam, which then turns a turbine generator to produce electricity.

*2 Estimate calculated assuming an annual household power consumption of 3,600kWh. (From the Obayashi Corporation website)

 

　 　
PKS refers to the remnants of the shells of oil palm fruit generated in the production process of palm oil PKS refers to the remnants of the shells of oil palm fruit generated in the production process of palm oil

- Utilization of generated ash -

The production of new value

Obayashi Corporation aims to achieve a circular economy through the effective utilization of resources and engages in the processing of the ash generated in the electricity generation process for provision as whetstone or roadbed material, and also collaborative research with chemical manufacturers with the aim of making the ash into agricultural fertilizer, and other such activities. And when it comes to the operation of wheel loaders and other such machinery, the company always keeps the environmental load in mind and pays attention to fuel efficiency. The wheel loaders that are used at the power plant are responsible for carrying the fuel delivered by 10,000t cargo ships to the back yard of the plant and dropping it into the combustion furnace, making them a very important piece of machinery that affects the productivity of electricity generation. The evaluation points for Hitachi Construction Machinery's machines are not only their high performance, but also the fact that the service solution ConSite has a function where data reports are used to provide the ability to perform a daily check of how best to undertake operations for efficiency and lower fuel consumption, as well as how to improve operations, and take the requisite action has made it a trusted solution. Through the provision of products and solutions for the initiatives of Obayashi Kamisu Biomass Power Plant as it takes on the challenge of a new field, Hitachi Construction Machinery will work alongside the company and aim to make a sustainable society a reality.