OREANDA-NEWS. April 07, 2015. Kobe Steel, Ltd. announces that today it entered into a power delivery contract with The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. Kobe Steel was the winning bidder for the tender to supply electricity to Kansai Electric Power.

Outline of the project

1. Location of power station?
Within Kobe Works on land made available after the No. 3 Blast Furnace is shut down
2. Type of power generation?
Pulverized coal-fired power generation. Ultra-supercritical pressure power generation equipment.
3. Capacity?
1,300,000 kW (650,000 kW x 2 units)
(Maximum delivered power: 1,221,000 kW)
4. Start of power supply?
First unit to start in Fiscal 2021
Second unit to start in Fiscal 2022

The coal-fired power station to be constructed will be equipped with state-of-the-art ultra-supercritical pressure power generation equipment, in line with the “best available technology” (BAT) standards announced by Japan for the installation of coal-fired power generation equipment. The plan also calls for implementing advanced environmental measures suitable for an urban power station.

As the location of the power station will be in the electricity demand area of Kobe and the surrounding Hanshin area, the power station will contribute to improving power supply efficiency and lowering carbon emissions. At the same time, the new power station, as a base energy source, will be able to supply a large amount of inexpensive electricity. This will further contribute to the stability and development of the local economy.

Kobe Steel has been contributing to increasing the electricity self-sufficiency rate of its hometown Kobe. It has already constructed a coal-fired power station with a power generation capacity of 1.4 million kW at its Kobe Works. Since 2002, Kobe Steel has been supplying the electricity that the power station generates to Kansai Electric Power as an independent power producer (IPP) under its electricity wholesale business.

In the Kobe Steel Group’s Fiscal 2013-2015 Medium-Term Business Plan, the new Kobe power station is one project to expand the power supply business as a stable earnings base, utilizing the know-how acquired from the construction and operation of the current coal-fired power station at Kobe Works. Kobe Steel will work on further details of the construction plan for the new power station. It will steadily carry out environmental assessment procedures and will place its full efforts into advancing the project as planned.