The 100 MW Sodegaura power plant in Japan, operating with ten Wärtsilä 34SG engines, has been successfully handed over to Tokyo Gas Engineering Solutions (TGES).
The Wärtsilä engines provide the needed flexibility to enable critical grid balancing as Japan strives to increase its share of renewable energy.
The plant was built by TGES on behalf of its parent company Tokyo Gas, who will own and operate the facility. The plant is located in Sodegaura city in the Chiba Prefecture, and it will play a key role in supporting the company’s participation in Japan’s balancing market and newly launched capacity market.
"This gas engine power plant will be used as a balancer, responding to fluctuations in renewable energy supply and electricity demand. Wärtsilä's engines have excellent ramp-up capability to provide the needed balancing power for an increasing share of renewables in the power generation mix. We expect this balancing power plant to play a significant role in the Japanese electricity market," comments Tadashi Ishizaka, Executive Officer and General Manager of the Power Business Department, Energy Trading Company, Tokyo Gas.
