Enviva Partners, a global renewable energy company specialising in sustainable wood bioenergy, and Tokyo-based utility Electric Power Development Corporation Limited (J-Power) have signed an MoU for the long-term, large-scale supply of sustainable wood biomass from Enviva’s manufacturing facilities in the US to J- Power’s coal-fired power plants in Japan.
Enviva is expected to build new infrastructure to generate and supply up to 5 million metric tonnes of sustainable wood pellets to permanently replace coal in J-current Power’s coal-fired power facilities, dramatically reducing the utility’s greenhouse-gas emissions. Under the terms of the agreement, the parties will jointly assess the most sustainable and cost-effective ways to realise the coal-to-biomass conversion’s potential, including supply security, port reception, distribution and storage logistics, safety measures, and project economics. The investment will be used to repurpose J-Power’s existing coal-fired power facilities through conversion, potentially resulting in both dedicated and co-fired biomass units. Enviva’s biomass will be certified under the European Union’s (EU) current sustainability requirements, ensuring that forest health, growth, and capacity are maintained and improved over time.