Kawasaki Joins Woody Biomass Power Project

 Tokyo, July 13, 2006 – Kawasaki Plant Systems (K Plant) today announced that it would participate in a test project overseen by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) in Niyodogawa, Kochi Prefecture. K Plant will provide Kawasaki’s proprietary woody biomass gasification power generation system for the project, as well as conducting ongoing evaluations.

 The world’s first small-scale distributed power system using woody biomass, it consists of a fluidized bed gasifier and a gas turbine. Following installation in March 2007, K Plant will conduct practical evaluation of the system’s operability and economical efficiency through the project’s completion in March 2010.

 Kawasaki’s system combines power cogeneration with wood pellet production. The cogeneration system is comprised of a gas turbine and a heat recovery boiler, with exhaust heat from the turbine used to produce the pellets. Kawasaki’s fluidized bed gasifier and gas turbine can be applied to woody biomass systems that burn only a few tons/day and boasts three times higher efficiency than direct-burning biomass power generation systems.

 The system will supply150 kW of electricity from forestry wood waste. The recovery boiler will supply steam for a wood drier at the facility. Six hundred tons/year of wood pellets will be provided for use to four nearby facilities, including spa hotels and an institution for the handicapped.

 Kawasaki is committed to contributing to the establishment of a sustainable society through the development and deployment of technologies and systems that reduce emissions and make efficient use of limited natural resources, such as bioenergy conversion, wind and solar power, and renewable energy.