GEOTHERMAL ENERGYIN JAPAN

Geothermal power plants and undergoing survey projects in Japan as of January 2020

POWER GENERATION

Wasabizawa Geothermal Power Plant(Photo by Yuzawa Geothermal Power Co., Ltd.)
Capacity : 46,199kW (Double ﬂash)
In operation since : 20 May 2019

History

Challenges

Located along the Circum-Paciﬁc Volcanic Belt
“Ring of Fire,” Japan is blessed with geothermalenergy. Matsukawa geothermal power plant, theﬁrst one in Japan, started its operation in 1966.
The total capacity of the domestic geothermal
power plants already reached over 500 MW in1995. Since then, however, new installation hadbeen stagnated almost for two decades mainly
due to socio-economic reasons.

The slow progress of new development is partly
due to the long lead time, including environmental assessment required for the construction oflargescale geothermal power plants. But a more
serious reason is the diﬃculty in gaining social
acceptance, especially from local hot spring resort
owners who are worried about the impact of geothermal development on hot spring resources.
Therefore, the government, private sectors andacademia have been making eﬀort to get better
understanding of local communities.

Renewed Opportunity
Following the nuclear power plant accident inFukushima in 2011, the promotional measures
implemented by the Ministry of Economy, Tradeand Industry (METI) to intensify deployment of
renewable energy have prompted renewedinterest in geothermal development in Japan.
Although the development progress is still slow,
two large geothermal power plants, MatsuoHachimantai (7,499 kW) and Wasabizawa(46,199 kW), were commissioned in 2019, inaddition to many smaller geothermal power
plants opened recent years. Total installed capacity
in Japan is 535,227 kW. (As of 2019)

Matsuo-Hachimantai Geothermal Power Plant(Photo by Iwate Geothermal Co., Ltd.)
Capacity : 7,499kW (Single ﬂash)
In operation since: 29 January 2019

DIRECT USE
Conventional Direct Use
Fabric dying withgeothermal steam
Photo by GEOCOLOR

High quality melongrown in green
houses heated bygeothermal steam
Photo by
Satou Onsen Melon

Sea salt drying withgeothermal steam
Photo by “ecologeo”

Milk and yogurt
sterilization
Photo by KURIKOMAFOODSAlthough most of direct use in Japan is bathing application, followed by space heating andgreen houses, geothermal energy is industrially used to add higher value to the products.

Ground Source Heat Pump(GSHP)

The cumulative number of facilities using GSHP
(Ministry of the Environment, 2019)

An example of suitability map: Distribution of sustainable
heat exchange rate (left) and groundwater ﬂow velocity (right)(Shrestha et al., 2018)

The installation of GSHP in Japan has been exponentially increasing recent years although the total number
is still small. Recent installations in landmark buildings such as the international terminal building of Haneda
Airport and the commercial zone of Tokyo Sky Tree (the tallest tower in Japan) have spotlighted GSHP. Oneof the topical studies in Japan is the suitability mapping of GSHP systems based on the groundwater ﬂow
modelling in a basin or a plain. Based on such studies, several municipals have compiled suitability maps oftheir administrative districts, aiming at the dissemination of GSHP from the environment-friendly aspects.

TECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE WORLDPower Generating Technologies

Others10.9%
Ansaldo/Tosi
9.7%

Toshiba
23.6%

OthersOrmat12.6%

JapanMHPS
22.3%
Fuji
20.9%

Photo by Landsvirkjun (Iceland)

Share of geothermal power generating
units in the World (installed capacity)

Geothermal power generating units by Japanese manufactures are installed worldwide with analmost 70% share of the total installed capacity, contributing to utilization of the geothermal energy.

Supercritical Geothermal Resources
In 2017, Japan launched an R&D project “Development of subduction-origin supercritical
geothermal resources” to utilize 400 to 500oC supercritical ﬂuid at a depth shallower than
5km. Earlier surveys suggested such resources may exist in/around many of the volcanic
zones in Japan and total potential reaches several tens giga-watts.
The project has a target year of around2040 for the operation of a pilot plant. To
overcome problems with acid ﬂuid insupercritical condition, various basic
scientiﬁc studies as well as technology
developments will be done led by theNational Institute of Advanced Industrial
Science and Technology (AIST) and Kyoto
University, funded by New Energy andIndustrial
Technology
Development
Organization (NEDO).
Conceptual model of “SuperCritical Geothermal System (SCGS)”in northeastern Japan

Geothermal Research Society of JapanGRSJ devotes its eﬀort to the progress of geothermal science and technology by publishing a quarterly
journal, holding annual conference, and hosting occasional domestic and international symposia. It is thebest community when you want to make contact with Japanese geothermal specialists. IGAJ, an aﬃliatedorganization of IGA, was established by GRSJ in 2003 to promote international activity of the society. For
more info, please visit http://grsj.gr.jp/en/.

(c)GRSJ, Japan, April 2020