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A consortium led by Kansai Electric Power (Kansai EPCO) is set to build a 7.1MW woody biomass power plant in Tochigi Prefecture, with environmental attributes sold to Tokyo Metro via a virtual power purchase agreement (PPA). The facility will be located on a 20,000 square metre site in Sano City and operated by Sano Biomass Hatsuden LLC.

It is projected to start commercial operations in September 2028, generating approximately 57GWh of electricity annually from locally sourced wood in the Kanto region. Tokyo Metro will purchase around 51GWh per year of non-fossil certificates (NFCs) from the plant for about 19 years, which will help offset approximately 6.5% of its carbon dioxide emissions.

Kansai EPCO will hold a 49% stake, with beABLE (19.9%), Biomass Fuel (18%), and NAS Construction (13.1%) owning the remainder. This marks the first virtual PPA for these companies linked to a biomass project.