More enjoyable trip to Hachimantai and Appi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan
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Challenges of the Matsukawa Geothermal Power Plant

The Challenges

Geothermal plants use less land per gigawatt than do coal-, wind-, or solar-powered stations. They emit little or no greenhouse gases and consume less water on average over the lifetime energy output than most conventional energy generation technologies. And because the steam and water retrieved from the ground can be injected back into the earth to replenish the source, hydrothermal energy is renewable. The baseload is stable, producing electricity consistently 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in all weather conditions.
Data published by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) claims that Japan has the third most plentiful geothermal resources in the world after the United States and Indonesia. Together with the technological expertise amassed by workers at plants like Matsukawa, and manufacturers such as Toshiba and Mitsubishi ranking among the world’s top suppliers of geothermal turbines, surely Japan has what it takes to reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels. Why, then, has its geothermal industry lagged?
One reason is that geothermal plants take longer to build, and produce less power, than fossil-fuel power stations. As they are typically located in remote areas, up-front construction costs are high. In addition, costly test drilling to determine whether conditions are suitable for geothermal generation has largely been left up to private developers. With much of Japan’s geothermal resources lying within national parks or protected lands, scenic and environmental concerns about drilling, combined with the high preliminary costs with no guarantee of success, have effectively preempted private-sector investment in the industry.

The Effect of the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami of March 2011

That status quo shifted after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami of March 2011 and the subsequent triple meltdown disasters at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. In July 2012 the national government enacted the Feed-In Tariff (FIT) policy, an incentive structure designed to create a virtuous cycle of investment, innovation, and cost reduction in support of renewable energy. The move has worked to geothermal’s advantage, and change seems on the horizon.

Toward its stated goal of increasing the amount of electricity produced from renewable sources from 16 percent of the total in fiscal year 2017 to between 22 and 24 percent by fiscal year 2030, Japan’s government says it will play a greater role in developing geothermal resources. From April 2020 the state-owned Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), overseen by METI, will conduct the financially risky early-phase test bores on behalf of potential developers. Japan’s Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE), a division of METI, estimates that in 2030 domestic geothermal capacity will reach 1.4 million kilowatts, nearly triple the present-day amount in 2019. In the Tohoku area, the Matsuo-Hachimantai Geothermal Power Plant, a 7,499-kilowatt flash-steam facility with the capacity to meet the hot water and electricity needs of 15,000 average households, opened in January 2019. Three more plants in Iwate Prefecture, and one in Akita, are under development as of November 2019. Tohoku Sustainable & Renewable Energy Co., Ltd., the operator of the Matsukawa plant, aims to double its total 2017 output from geothermal, hydroelectric, wind-, and solar-powered facilities to around 40,000 kilowatts by 2030.

Matsukawa Geothermal Powerplant
List of geothermal power plants in operation in Japan. Data source TENPES (2018)

The Matsukawa Geothermal Power Plant

The Matsukawa Geothermal Hall on the premises can be visited from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekdays except Tuesdays from May to mid-November. No advance reservation is required. The film (in Japanese) telling the history of the facility includes grand vintage footage of workers drilling to reach the first underground steam storage. The exhibited mechanical heritage, such as drill bits designed to cut through stone, drilling samples, and turbine rotor blades made of high-chrome heat-resistant 12CR steel, will be of particular interest to engineers and students. Also, the original turbine that retired in 1993 is on display here. Presentations by a member of the engineering staff can be heard with a prior reservation.
By bus Matsukawa Geothermal Power Plant is just under two hours from Morioka Station. By car the plant is 25 minutes from the Matsuo-Hachimantai exit of the Tohoku Expressway.
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