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Wood pellets in Japan
Small Log Conference 2015
Thursday, March 26, 2015
North American Wood Pellet Exports
Takanobu AIKAWA
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Outline
I. Domestic pellet production and heating sector
II. Pellet Imports and large scale power plants
III. Small scale power plants using domestic biomass
Unit conversion
1JPY≒0.80USD
1m3 ≒35.3 ft3
1ha≒2.47a
1m2 ≒10.7 ft2
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Overview of Japanese biomass: Different drivers by size
Small scale heating: competing with fossil fuels
Middle-scale power generation: supported by FIT. Fuel procurement is the key
challenge for this sector.
Large-scale coal power plants with co-firing will be depend on imported pellets,
because of small production capacity in Japan
Category Typical size Biomass Market driver
Heating 10kW-1MW Chip, pellet: 100t/yr Up rising of fossil
fuel price, subsidy
for boilers
Middle-scale electric
power generation
(inc. CHP)
2MW-20MW Chip (domestic forest
residues, decomposition,
PKS etc): 100,000t/yr
Feed-in-tariff
Large-scale electric
power generation
(co-firing)
100MW~ Pellet (imported):
100,000t/yr
CO2 reduction of
major electric power
companies
Source)T. Aikawa
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Wood pellets production in Japan
Source) Forestry Agency
3.8 6.0 21.5
24.9 29.9 36.4
50.7 58.2
78.3
98.0
1016
29
38
47
63
75
85
108 109
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0.0
20.0
40.0
60.0
80.0
100.0
120.0
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Nu
mb
er o
f facilities
Pro
du
ctio
n
Production
Number of mills
(Thousand ton)
(FY)
Pellet mills and production has been increasing during 2000s.
Average size:
1,000t/mill
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Wood pellets production in Japan
Source) Ueno Village
Small production capacity (1,000t/yr),
Using logs, but sawdust.
Photo) T. Aikawa
Typical pellet mill in Japan Pellet made from log
High price with relatively low
quality
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Wood pellets consumption in Japan
Source) T. Akawa
Pellets made in Japan are mainly used in small scale heating sector
From stoves (house) to boilers (city halls, hot-springs and green houses, etc.)
Photo) T. Aikawa
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Heating sector: competition with fossil fuels
Comparison of biomass fuels prices with fossil fuels
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00
14.00
Jan
-07
May
-07
Sep
-07
Jan
-08
May
-08
Sep
-08
Jan
-09
May
-09
Sep
-09
Jan
-10
May
-10
Sep
-10
Jan
-11
May
-11
Sep
-11
Jan
-12
May
-12
Sep
-12
Jan
-13
May
-13
Sep
-13
Jan
-14
May
-14
エネルギー単価(円
/kW
h)
A重油
灯油
ペレット(45,000円/t)
ペレット(25,000円/t)
チップ(12,000円/t)
Heating oil
Fuel oil
Pellet (45,000JPY/t)
Pellet (25,000JPY/t)
Wood chip
(12,000JPY/t)
En
erg
y p
rice
(JP
Y/k
Wh
)
Source) Aikawa
The market is still in an early developing stage, due to the relatively high cost of pellet
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71,981
83,769
96,745
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
2012 2013 2014
Wood pellet import in Japan
Source) Trade statistics of Japan
Import of wood pellets (source country)
Pellet import has been increasing steady.
The price has also risen up (21,500JPY/t in 2012→26,700JPY/t in 2014)
PKS could be a rival (234,000Mt in 2014, CIF price 12,100JPY/t)
Canada 90,676Thailand 2,682Vietnum 1,979USA 563Indonesia 410NZ 280Malaysia 128Finland 15Singapole 12total 96,745
(Mt/yr)
Caloric value is
almost same for
wood pellet
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Pellet import will grow faster?
Source) IEA Bioenergy Task 40
2010 2015 2020
Western Europe 10.8 16.4 22.8
Japan/Korea 0.2 3.8 13.5
China 0.6 3 10
North America 3.4 4.3 5.6
Major Consumers of Wood Pellets (million t)
IEA Task 40 predicts Japan and Korea will be major
consumers of pellets in the world.
After Fukushima accident, Japanese electric power
companies begun to re-invest for coal firing.
FIT scheme support co-firing,
On the other hands, METI will set energy efficiency
standard for new plants, high quality bio fuels will be
favored (ex. torrefied pellet)
World Coal Imports 2010
Source) IEA Bioenergy Task 40
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New coal plants needs biomass
Source)Osaka Gas Co., Ltd.
Example: Osaka-Gus co-firing plants in Aichi
More than 40 plans of new coal power plants /re-powering (total capacity:17,600 MW)
High energy efficiency and GHG reduction are required for new plants by regulation
More than 10 plants announced biomass co-firing.
Environmental NGOs are on the watch for carbon emissions and biomass sustainability.
Operator: Gas and Power Co.,Ltd. (100%
subsidiary of Osaka Gas Co., Ltd.)
Capacity: 110MW
Fuel: Coal with biomass pellet (about 30% of
total fuel)
Pellets will be imported from sawmills in North
America
Chance for certified
pellets
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Small scale plants using domestic biomass
FIT scheme was launches in 2011 to develop renewable energy sector in Japan.
Purchasing prices of biomass generation are classified by feedstock (forest residues
are paid well).
Standard business model has been reconsidered from 5MW mono-generation to
smaller than 2MW of CHP considering the energy efficiency and biomass
procurement.
Photo)T. AIkawa
Mono-generation with steam turbine(5MW-) CHP with innovative technologies(-2MW)
Gasification (some plants imported
from Europe will use certified)
ORC (Organic Rankin Cycle)
Small-scale steam turbine that realize
co-generation
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Summary
Pellets production in Japan has been increasing, however;
Current high production cost due to the small production capacity is needed to be
cut down to compete with fossil fuels in heating sector.
Rapid growth of imported pellets for co-firing is predicted
Electric power companies are investing for coal power plants that require biomass
co-firing to reduce carbon emission.
Those plants will adopt high quality and reliable biomass, such as torrefied pellets
to realize high energy efficiency and keep cooperate reputations
Small scale biomass plants will use domestic biomass
Forest residues are paid well, but small CHP plant would use pellets as high-quality
biomass fuels