Technology
The
feed-in tariff program to purchase all power generated by renewable energy will
be enacted staring in July in Japan. Leading companies are busy with preparing
to develop technology and construct system in time for the launch of the
program. Toshiba developed a highly efficient geothermal generation technology
that reuses waste energy used geothermal generation and increases output by 30%.
This technology can decrease generation cost by 10-20% in the long run. Contrary
to the conventional system that mostly uses only one turbine, Toshiba’s new
system runs the first turbine using steam higher than 150 degrees centigrade
collected several hundreds meters below the ground surface and the second
turbine using waste heat that is below 150 degrees centigrade.
The
initial cost will be higher for the additional functions, but the increased
part of investment can be collected in 10-15 years because output is greater.
And the generation cost will be 20-30% lower after the return of investment. Geothermal
generation has the potential to generate 24 million kW that is about 10% of
Japan’s total generation capacity, but the business has been slow because locations
suitable for geothermal generation are mostly inside the national park and
because the regulation of development is rather strict. Deregulation scheduled
to start coming July stimulates technological progress of the Japanese companies
concerned.
In the
world geothermal generation market, Toshiba, Mitsubishi Heavy, and Fuji Electric are the three leading companies, and they have a combined share of 70%
in the world market. The move to develop geothermal generation is growing
widespread in the U.S., Asia, and Africa. Mitsubishi Heavy has been conducting
feasible study of geothermal generation in East Africa including Djibouti in
alliance with Marubeni since last autumn. Fuji Electric established a company
in India to sell industrial products in Asia.
A geothermal generation plant in the Tohoku district
The largest geothermal generation plant in Japan
No comments:
Post a Comment