Kobelco Power Moka, Inc. begins commercial operation of No. 1 unit at Moka Power Plant

Kobe Steel, Ltd.'s wholly-owned subsidiary, Kobelco Power Moka, Inc., announces that the No. 1 unit of its Moka Power Plant has begun commercial operation today.

Construction has been progressing on the power plant with a power generation capacity of 1,248 MW (624 MW x 2 units) located in Moka, Tochigi Prefecture. Kobelco Power Moka confirmed that the No. 1 unit has satisfied the prescribed conditions for performance, enabling commercial operation to begin.

The Moka Power Plant, which is supplied with city gas by Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd., generates electricity with one of the highest levels of efficiency in Japan using gas turbine combined cycle power generation, a state-of-the-art method. Also, the Moka Power Plant is not located in a coastal area where many power plants are often situated. It is located inland where there is no risk of encountering tsunami. Owing to the dispersion of risks, the project has been selected as an example of strengthening the national resilience and energy infrastructure by Japan's Cabinet Secretariat and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. This power generation business aims to contribute to society by improving the power generation self-sufficiency rate, an aim of Tochigi Prefecture. The No. 2 unit is currently under construction and is anticipated to begin commercial operation in the first half of 2020.

Under its Fiscal 2016–2020 Group Medium-Term Management Plan, the Kobe Steel Group has positioned the electric power business as one of its three core business areas along with the materials businesses and the machinery businesses. Continuing the stable operation of the existing No. 1 unit and No. 2 unit of the Kobe Power Plant, the Group is steadily advancing two new power generation projects, one in Moka and the other in Kobe. In addition to the Moka Power Plant, the No. 3 unit and No. 4 unit of the Kobe Power Plant are currently under construction and are anticipated to go into commercial operation in fiscal 2022.

The GTCC method uses a gas turbine to directly turn a generator to produce electricity, in combination with a steam turbine in which steam generated by a boiler is used to turn a turbine generator to produce electricity.

The gas turbine generator produces electricity by burning fuel heated to a high temperature under high pressure. The high-temperature exhaust heat from the gas turbine generator is used to generate steam in the boiler, and the steam is used by the steam turbine generator to produce electricity. In addition to gas turbine power generation, the effective utilization of waste heat from the gas turbine increases power generation efficiency, as opposed to using general gas turbines and steam turbines for power generation.

Company name:

Kobelco Power Moka, Inc.

Representative:

Akihisa Fujio

Capital:

600 million yen (100% owned by Kobe Steel)

Location:

12, Kinugaoka 1-chome, Moka, Tochigi
(Adjacent to Kobe Steel's Moka Plant, within the Moka No. 5 Industrial Park)

Power generation method:

Gas turbine combined cycle generation

Power generation capacity:

1,248 MW (624 MW x 2 units)

Fuel:

City gas

Site area:

Approximately 9 ha

Main equipment:

Gas turbines, steam turbines, heat recovery steam generators, denitrification equipment, air-cooled condensers, other equipment

Start of commercial operation:

No. 1 unit: October 1, 2019,
No. 2 unit: First half of 2020 (planned)