ORIX starts operations of Minami-Kayabe geothermal power plant, Japan

The Minami Kayabe geothermal power plant in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan (source: ORIX Corporation)

Carlo Cariaga 2 May 2024

ORIX Corporation (ORIX) has announced the start of commercial operations of the Minami-Kayabe Geothermal Power Plant in the Minami-Kayabe region of Hakodate City in Hokkaido, Japan. With a capacity of 6.5 MW, it is now the largest binary cycle geothermal power plant in Japan.

The start of construction of the Minami-Kayabe Geothermal Power Plant was announced back in 2019, with an initial target of completion by 2022.

Additionally, the power plant is the first geothermal power plant in Japan to install a downhole line shaft pump. This combination of technologies makes it possible to extract sufficient heat from low-temperature hot water, making large-scale geothermal power generation feasible in regions where this was previously challenging.

From a design perspective, installing the pump reduces the number of wells and required development area while preventing trees from freezing, which can cause them to wither, by using air-cooled condenser instead of water for cooling the heated working fluid. Additionally, forest maintenance activities will be conducted near the power plant in cooperation with the local community to promote environmental conservation.

This project has been selected by the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) as a debt guarantee business for geothermal resource development.

Source: ORIX Corporation