Japanese consortium looking at 270 MW geothermal development in Fukushima
Bandai, Fukushima, Japan (source: flickr/ danaspencer, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
23 Mar 2012
A consortium of 10 companies is exploring development of several geothermal power plants with a total capacity of up to 270 MW and is now planning community meetings to win local support.
A group of firms in Japan is looking at building a number of geothermal plants in a geothermal area close to Fukushima, the nuclear disaster zone hit by last year’s tsunami.
With changed drilling rules for geothermal the project is now being studied by a consortium of about 10 companies. The companies intend to meet local communities in early May. They expect a potential development with a total capacity of 270 MW.
The support of local communities is crucial and they need to be won over as in the past many projects faced local opposition from people fearing an impact on hot springs and local tourism.
National paper Nikkei reports that the consortium includes companies like Idemitsu Kosan Co and Inpex Corp. The project is expected to cost up to 100 billion yen ($1.2 billion), and could start operation as early as 2020.
Representatives are though emphasizing that current plans are very conceptual and there has been made no decision on a potential project start.
Other firms in the consortium include Mitsubishi Materials Co, Japan Petroleum Exploration Co (Japex) and Mitsui Oil Exploration Co, according to the Nikkei report.
Source: Reuters
