ABB has secured its ninth contract with TOYO Engineering Corporation in Japan to supply its distributed control system (DCS) ABB Ability™ Symphony® Plus. Particularly, these solutions will go to the Wakayama Gobo Biomass Power Plant, around 120km south of Osaka.

When operational in 2025¹ the 50 MW biomass power plant will be capable of supplying enough power for up to 110,000 Japanese households a year. Moreover, the plant will use wood pellets and agricultural byproduct as a feedstock.

Partner of Choice for Automation

The plant development is in partnership with Enewill (formerly JAG Energy), Osaka Gas and SMFL MIRAI Partners who have employed engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor TOYO to design and build the facility.

In addition, ABB’s DCS solution will deliver complete visibility of operations, enabling operators to make informed decisions in real time to help optimize production, improve processes, and drive efficiencies. ABB will also deploy its Adaptive Execution™ project management methodology which utilizes digitalization to speed up delivery schedules and achieve faster site start up.

The new order, booked in January this year, follows ongoing collaboration between ABB and TOYO. Accordingly, the partnership involves ABB integrating its automation solutions at eight other biomass facilities being constructed across Japan.

With domestic supply of energy increasing over four percent year-on-year, Japan, previously seen as a carbon intensive country², is investing in ways to match growth in demand with reducing its reliance on fossil fuels. In 2022, its renewable energy output increased by 11.7 percent, driven primarily by solar power and biomass generation³.

Japan is currently the world’s fifth largest biomass market⁵ and will likely grow by 5.4 percent a year until 2025 and 3.7 percent a year through the following decade⁶. ABB is an established leader in the power generation market in Japan, with expertise when delivering process control systems. This, coupled with new initiatives that have been proven on other TOYO projects, made ABB the partner of choice.

Endnotes

1. Material Link
2. Japan 2021 – Analysis – IEA
3. FY2021 Energy Supply and Demand Report (Revised Report) (meti.go.jp)
4. 6th_outline.pdf (meti.go.jp)
5. Japan: biomass energy market size 2035 | Statista
6. Biomass in Japan: the case for small local plants | S-GE