Supporting innovation in agricultural technologies fora new era by making sustainable facility operation a reality

Related SDGs

Energy Plant Business: Biomass Power Plant Construction/O&M Project in Kasaoka
SARA Inc.

Construction site
Kasaoka(Okayama Prefecture)

OkayamaFeatureLocated in southwest Okayama Prefecture near
Hiroshima Prefecture, Kasaoka City is home to theKasaoka Bay Reclamation Site, one of four largest
reclamation sites in Japan.

As a company dedicated to “Taking Agriculture in Asia
into the Future,” plant customer SARA Inc. is dedicated tooffering a stable supply of delicious vegetables that can be
consumed with peace of mind throughout the year and toachieving reasonable, sustainable relationships withproducers, sellers, and consumers. At an enormous
reclamation site on Kasaoka Bay in Okayama Prefecture,
SARA operates one of the worldʼs most advanced protectedhorticulture businesses that combines vegetable cultivation
in a 13-hectare semi-enclosed greenhouse which is one of
the largest structures of its kind in Japan and a biomass
power plant. Here the company grows and ships safe,delicious, and fresh salad tomatoes, paprika, and leaf lettucethat can be enjoyed with peace of mind.

Greenhouse

Biomass power
plant

Facility overview

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TAKUMA CSR Report 2019

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Supporting innovation in agricultural technologies fora new era by making sustainable facility operation a reality

Interview

Energy Plant Business: Biomass Power Plant Construction/O&M Project in Kasaoka

We spoke to CEO Takenobu Kobayashi of SARA Inc., who played a central role in thisSARA Inc.

project, about how he ﬁrst encountered Takuma and his subsequent experiences.

Mr. Takenobu Kobayashi
CEOSARA Inc.

Impressed by Takumaʼs frontier spirit andconﬁdent of its ability to overcome
challenges together

The power of group collaboration to achieve sustainable facility operation

SARA Inc.

Project name

SARA Power Plant

Generating capacity

10, 000 kW
80 million kWh annually(Enough to power about
20,000 households)

Principal fuel

Imported wood products
such as PKS and lumber

Completion date

March 2019

O&M contract dates

April 1, 2019, to March 31,2039 (tentative)

GreenhousePower

Biomass power plant／
Combustion gas puriﬁcation system
EPCrgyneT

CO2HeatBiomass
tri-generationPower Tsales a k uosm a Te c h n*EPC: Engineering Procurement Construction

19TAKUMA CSR Report 2019aumakCustomer

Takuma and Takuma Technos will provide operational
management and maintenance of the facility for 20 years
after the start of operation. By deploying the,aproprietary operational support system, and applying
expertise from DBO, O&M, and other projects involving
municipal waste incineration facilities, it is possible toachieve higher-quality, efﬁcient operation and maintenancemanagement.
Group company Takuma Energy will purchase enoughsurplus electricity from the facility to fulﬁll the annual power
needs of about 20,000 households, and some of thatelectricity will be supplied to local kindergartens, daycare
centers, middle schools, and other facilities to encourage
local consumption of locally produced power.

TakumaEIn this project, the Takuma Group came together to help
achieve an innovative initiative being undertaken bySARA Inc.
The biomass power plant and combustion gas puriﬁcation
system installed in this project use lumber from nearby
regions and imported wood products such as palm kernel
shells (PKS) as fuel in a biomass tri-generation plant that
supplies three types of energy necessary for facility
operation: electricity, heat for heating and cooling use, andcarbon dioxide for promoting vegetable growth. In this way,
the facility can be operated in a sustainable manner.

O&M

Numerous people from different departments participatedin the process of gaining an understanding of our concept anddeveloping a variety of proposals to make it a reality, and all ofthem approached their task with an extremely high level ofenthusiasm. It was truly a project that tapped the entirecompany. Each employee was appealing in his or her own way,
and after each meeting I was left with a strong impression thatTakuma is a trustworthy manufacturer.
One of the reasons we asked Takuma to build the plant wasthat I knew based on that impression that the company wouldcontinue to do its utmost in a spirit of good faith in design,construction, and after-sales service after we entered into acontract.

FeatureIn the run-up to the establishment of our company inJanuary 2014, we were hard at work planning to build alarge-scale vegetable farm at a reclamation site in the city of
Kasaoka, Okayama Prefecture, which we considered apromising site. Our concept included using a biomass power
plant to supply the three types of energy needed by the farm,
speciﬁcally electricity, heat, and carbon dioxide. We met withseveral plant manufacturers as part of that process and spoke
to them about the concept, but only one company indicated anunderstanding of our intentions and a willingness to embrace
the challenges they posed together. I have a strong impressionof that companyʼs frontier spirit, which inspired it to boldly
take on a tri-generation project in an unknown area ofoperations. That impression remains unchanged today.

Proposal capability and human ability that
led to a relationship of trust

A relationship that facilitates new value
creation and application through continued
exchanges

Feeling the appeal of a track record in extended
operation that promised stable business proﬁts
I knew that Takuma had a long and successful track recordin biomass plant construction projects, but as we learned more
about Takumaʼs conceptual and proposal capabilities in thethoroughgoing use of surplus heat and supply of CO2 from

During the design and construction phase after we enteredinto a contract, each coordinator and site manager offeredservice in a spirit of good faith, and Takuma was able to deliver
the plant on time without major incident. The facility
continues to operate smoothly today.
Following the delivery of the plant, we entered into along-term operational and maintenance management (O&M)
contract with Takuma Group company Takuma Technos. Thefacility has only just begun to operate, but I trust that we will
be able work together to maximize proﬁts from power
generation while minimizing running costs.
Additionally, through the power sales business operated by
Takuma Energy, weʼre able to give something back to the local
community together with Takuma, including by supplying
power to local facilities. I look forward in the future to joining
together to create and apply new value through businessinitiatives and continued exchanges.

combustion gas puriﬁcation, which were new businessdomains, the company earned our trust and made us conﬁdent
that our concept would in fact be viable and proﬁtable. In thisway, a process that included numerous discussions ultimately
led to a facility that provided both economy and stability. I will
never forget how we completed the worldʼs ﬁrst system tosupply high-quality CO2 by purifying combustion gases
through a joint demonstration project.

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Contributing to the development of the sugar industry by helping leadthe way to success in the form of stable production and power sales

Related SDGs

Overseas business: Biomass Power Plant Construction Project in Thailand

Contribution of energy supply in Thailand
Fea t ure

Thailand is the worldʼs leading producer of sugar and thesecond-largest exporter of the commodity in the world. Since
our establishment in 1974, we have become one ofThailandʼs premier sugar manufacturers. Recently, inaddition to the sugar business, we are committed tobecoming a producer of electricity using the renewable fuelbagasse (ﬁber remaining after sugarcane is crushed).
We have used bagasse-ﬁred boilers from Takuma since ourcompanyʼs founding. More recently, we installed four more
Takuma boilers to obtain a stable supply of steam andelectric power in our new plant in Udonthani. Thailand
needs a growing energy supply, and we look forward tocontributing to the sugar business here by supplying clean
energy from Takuma biomass-fueled boilers. It is our hopethat Takuma and Siam Takuma will continue to provide
plants engineered to facilitate environmental conservationand industrial development.

Construction site

Bangkok

Located about 550 kilometers north-northeastof the capital Bangkok, Udonthani means“northern town” in Sanskrit.

21TAKUMA CSR Report 2019Udonthani(Thailand)

Mr. Jetsada Wongwatanasin
Managing Director
Thai Udonthani Power Co., Ltd. (TSM Group)

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Contributing to the development of the sugar industry by helping leadthe way to success in the form of stable production and power sales
Overseas business: Biomass Power Plant Construction Project in Thailand

The customer for this project is an energy company inThailand that operates a power boiler plant fueled by ﬁber
remaining after sugarcane is crushed, which is known asbagasse.
Sugarcane harvested in the area is pressed at the adjacentsugar mill to produce sugar. By using the bagasse generated
during that process to generate steam and electricity, thecustomer is able to use those products to power the plant
and to sell surplus power back to the grid.

Customer
Project name
Fuel
Steam conditions(Existing plant)
Customer
Project nameSteam conditions

As part of the project, we delivered a new two-boiler
power plant in order to supply additional energy (in the formof steam and electricity) needed as a result of an expansionof the customerʼs sugar plant.
We had previously delivered the facilityʼs existing
two-boiler power plant. Going forward, our four-boiler
bagasse-fueled power boiler plant will contribute to thecustomerʼs ability to produce sugar in a stable and consistentmanner while efﬁciently selling surplus power to the grid.

Thai Udonthani Power Co., Ltd. (TSM Group)
N-6500H Bagasse Fired Boiler
Bagasse170 tons per hour 4.2 MPaG 450 C 2 boilers(delivered in January 2019)
TSM Power Co., Ltd.
N-5000H Bagasse Fired Boiler
150 tons per hour 4.2 MPaG 450 C(delivered in November 2012)

Plant construction process

Siam Takuma procured materials and equipment needed for the project andcarried out construction and commissioning work with a focus on staying onschedule and ensuring worker safety.

Boiler plant construction starts with the construction of the boilerbuilding and then proceeds with the installation of machinery,piping, electrical equipment, and other components. Once those
steps are complete, the entire facility undergoes adjustment andcommissioning processes, and performance is veriﬁed before it istransferred to the customer. We carried out these tasks in line with aconstruction schedule and work procedures that had been carefully
formulated based on our extensive experience.

FeatureThis feature introduces the thoughts of the engineering coordinatorfrom Takuma and the construction coordinator from Siam Takuma(Takumaʼs Thai subsidiary) on the delivered systems.

Takuma focuses on getting work done safely while taking steps
to ensure that materials and equipment are delivered on time andin line with the schedule and that all parties, including
subcontractors, are able to communicate smoothly and effectively.
In such construction projects, it is extremely important to work
closely with the customer while building a trusting relationshipduring the construction process, which can take a long time.

Electricity
SteamBiomass

WaterGasAir

Message from the construction coordinator

2 boilers
AshAt Siam Takuma, I am in charge of construction and commissioning work for Takuma

Ashboilers, and also responsible for safety and quality control management at construction sites
and subcontractor factories. I also handle correspondence with Takuma to conﬁrm
speciﬁcations and requirements.

Message from the engineering coordinator

In this project, we installed two bagasse-ﬁred boilers at Thai Udonthani Power Co., Ltd.,
which was already operating two Takuma boilers. Challenges included integrating the newAtsushi Nishina

systems into the existing plant, which was operating at the time, and keeping to a tight

Section 3, Energy Engineering Department 2Project CenterIn this project, the customer already had experience operating a pair of Takuma boilers that had
been delivered in the past. In light of the companyʼs favorable evaluation of our boiler plantʼsoperational track record and technological reliability, we were eager to plan and design a system sothat we could deliver a high-quality product that would meet the customerʼs expectations.
I look forward in the future to planning and designing even better plants that take into accountTakumaʼs record of success in Japan and overseas and to working closely with Siam Takumaʼs highly
experienced staff so that we can supply high-quality plants that satisfy customersʼ requirements.

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construction schedule.
Thanks to the cooperation of the customer and Takumaʼs Head Ofﬁce, we were able toTeekatat
Promsungyang

ﬁnish the construction and commissioning work generally on schedule. I was relieved andManager, Construction Section

contribute to the supply of renewable energy in a country where biomass fuels are plentiful.

proud as I watched the row of four boilers begin operating together.
Takuma boilers are famous in the sugar industry in Thailand, where customers expect us toSiam Takuma Co., Ltd.
(Shown at right)

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