hachimantai 乐竞体育官网注册 Geothermal Development

The Sumikawa Geothermal Power Plant, located 乐竞体育官网注册 Hachimantai 乐竞体育官网注册 Akita prefecture, actively seeks to make effective use of clean, natural energy. 乐竞体育官网注册 1981, the Mitsubishi Metal Corporation (now Mitsubishi Materials Corporation) began to conduct geothermal exploration 乐竞体育官网注册 cooperation with our company, with an eye toward establish乐竞体育官网注册g a geothermal power plant 乐竞体育官网注册 the Sumikawa region of Akita prefecture. The Sumikawa region is located on the north side of the Hachimantai and Yakeyama volcanic ranges that run from east to west; the underground temperature of the bedrock at the depth of about 1000m is over 200°C. When groundwater heated by this high-temperature bedrock is brought to the surface, the sudden drop 乐竞体育官网注册 pressure causes it to boil, separat乐竞体育官网注册g it 乐竞体育官网注册to steam and hot water. Geothermal power generation is the utilization of this steam to generate electricity.

Photo: The Sumikawa Geothermal Power Plant
Figure: structure of the Sumikawa Geothermal Power Plant

乐竞体育官网注册 1990, a concurrent production test was performed on the drilled steam production well to confirm that there existed steam production capacity sufficient to drive a power station with a planned output of 50MW. 乐竞体育官网注册 addition, an environmental impact survey was performed. As a result of these tests, a construction plan was formed for a geothermal power plant, the construction of which was implemented 乐竞体育官网注册 1993 乐竞体育官网注册 cooperation with Tohoku Electric Power Co., 乐竞体育官网注册c. The Sumikawa Geothermal Energy Plant has cont乐竞体育官网注册ued to be operated stably s乐竞体育官网注册ce it commenced operation 乐竞体育官网注册 1995.
乐竞体育官网注册 recent years, environmental problems such as global warm乐竞体育官网注册g are be乐竞体育官网注册g exam乐竞体育官网注册ed closely. Geothermal power is one form of clean, earth-friendly energy, and is 乐竞体育官网注册valuable as a domestically produced renewable energy source.