Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) information
Contribution to international global warming mitigation measures
Each year, we release the Kyushu Electric Power Company Group Environmental Action Plan (issued in June 2017 last scal year; renamed the Kyuden Group Environmental Action Plan from FY2018 onward). This plan is the basis of efforts to prevent global warming in Japan and abroad through such action as our overseas energy business and consulting.
Limiting CO2 Emissions with the Overseas Energy Business
In FY2017, high-efficiency thermal power plants overseas and the steady operation of wind power and geothermal power stations*1 contributed to the suppression of approximately 1.3 million metric tons*2 of CO2 emissions. This is equivalent to roughly 4% of our CO2 emissions in Japan.
*1 Investments in nine IPP projects in eight countries; equity ownership in output of 1.5 million kW (as of the end of FY2017)
*2 Figures for CO2 emissions are independent estimates by our company based on emission factors by country and region listed in “World Energy Balances 2017.”
Overseas power generation business
The Sarulla Geothermal IPP* Project began when Kyushu Electric Power acquired the concession to extract resources in October 2007. Full-scale construction began in Sumatra,Indonesia, in May 2014, and all three generators were brought online in May 2018, with a capacity of approximately 330,000 kW.
This project is a prime example of how our technology and expertise, amassed through long experience in the entire geothermal power generation process from development to supply, can be applied for global benefit.
*IPP stands for “independent power producer,” a business that generates power and sells it wholesale to distributors. This is in contrast to power companies, which handle all processes from generation through to retail.
This project will build and operate a new thermal power plant with a combined-cycle power generation system for the Birdsboro gas-fired thermal power plant in Pennsylvania. The system will use a high-efficiency gas turbine with cutting-edge performance. The plant will have an output of 488,000 kW. Our participation in the project was finalized in December 2017. Construction is now underway, with operations to commence in 2019.
In Connecticut, we have become involved in a power generation project by obtaining a roughly 20% equity share in Kleen Energy Holdings, LLC, which operates the Kleen Energy gas-fired power plant.
*A power generation system that combines a gas turbine with a steam turbine. Latent heat from the gas turbine’s gas emissions boil water that turns to steam and spins a steam turbine.
Overseas consulting
We apply the combined strength of the Kyuden Group to apply the technology and knowledge we have built up in the electricity power business both in Japan and abroad to work on a wide array of solutions for the energy sector, from the formulation of basic energy plans to solutions for power generation, transmission, and distribution, as well as renewable energy and the environment. We thus help countries provide a stable power supply and improve the earth’s environment.
In FY2017, we used the engineering skill built up from our work in supplying power to remote islands and in geothermal power generation—both distinctive strengths of the Kyuden Group—to provide consultation on the installation and expansion of solar power stations in Cuba and the Marshall Islands, as well as improving the operational performance of the Olkaria Geothermal Power Station (output: 430,000 kW) in Kenya, which is one of the largest such plants in East Africa.
In future, Kyuden will continue to promote environmentally friendly energy use through proposing effective solutions for the countries we support.
