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    WELTEC Biomass commissions 450-kW Cogeneration Power Plant in Japan

    March 1, 2022
    The facility makes use of organic leftovers, such as farm waste, as raw material for the biogas output, while the plant generates both electricity and heat or steam for industrial processes
    Image credit WELTECH Biomass
    Weltec Biopower Plant Japan 621e3e19501c4

    German-based biomass power builder WELTEC Biopower has commissioned a 450-kW cogeneration plant in Japan.

    The biogas facility is located and operating in Saitama Prefecture north of Tokyo. The facility makes use of organic leftovers, such as farm waste, as raw material for the biogas output, while this type of plant generates both electricity and heat or steam for industrial processes and district heating, in some cases.

    The Saitama project is the fourth completed by WELTEC in Japan. The plant will use close to 12,000 metric tons of organic waste converted to energy annually.

    The substrate mix consists of organic waste and cattle manure from a nearby farm that belongs to the operator. The largely liquid organics are introduced to the 2,823 cubic-meter digester by means of a central pump, according to WELTEC.

    Finally, the digestate is separated and the solid phase is dried with special technology in order to further reduce the volume. Most of this residue is used as compost, and some of it as fertilizer, the company said.

    Waste-to-energy plants utilize feedstocks such as landfill, biomass and agricultural waste. Environmental scientists say that methane gas is multiple times more harmful to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.

    About the Author

    Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

    For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

    Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

    He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

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