View of the Komatagawa New Power Plant

Mitsubishi Materials Corporation has commenced commercial operation of the 10.326MW Komatagawa New power plant, the first new hydroelectric power plant in Japan’s Akita Prefecture for 69 years.

Komatagawa New Power Plant was planned and constructed in order to increase the power supply through efficient operation of the Komatagawa No.1, No.2 and No.4 Power Plants on the Komata river water system centered on Moriyoshi Dam. By efficiently taking in water previously released as unused energy, the power generation capacity of the Komata river water system is increased by 2860 kW, enabling an increase in annually generated power of approximately 13,400 MWh. With the completion of Komatagawa New Power Plant, use of the Komatagawa No.1 and No.2 were discontinued in October 2022.

The Komatagawa New Power Plant takes water directly from the outlet of the Komatagawa No.4 Power Plant directly under Moriyoshi Dam and transfers it through the 8.5km headrace tunnel to secure an effective head of about 90m and generate 10,326kW of power. All generated electricity will be supplied using the feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme for renewable energy.

The power plant was constructed using electricity from the existing hydroelectric power plants to minimize the environmental impact.

Inside the powerhouse at Komatagawa New Power Plant