Niigata Thermal Power Station


Niigata Thermal Power Station is an LNG-fired thermal power station operated by Tohoku Electric in the city of Niigata, Japan. The facility is located on the Sea of Japan coast.

History

The Niigata Thermal Power Station Unit 1 started operation in July 1963. At that time, it was Japan's first power plant capable of using a mixture of natural gas and heavy oil. A total of four units were constructed between 1963 and 1969. Unit 2 was abolished in 1983 and Unit 1 in 1984 due to obsolescence. Plans for a lifetime extension on Unit 3 were cancelled in 2006 and the plant was abolished in 2009.
Unit 5, which adopted a high-efficiency combined cycle power generation system was under construction at the time of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and came on line from July 30, 2011.
Due to the electrical shortfall in the aftermath of the earthquake, Unit 6 was constructed as an emergency generation station, and came on line on January 31, 2012. It was taken offline on March 21, 2015 after alternative and lower cost sources of energy came on line and infrastructure damaged by the earthquake was repaired.
Unit 4 was abolished in September 2018.
In the past, the Niigata Thermal Power Station used natural gas sent by a 251-km pipeline from the Aga-oki oil and gas field, which was located offshore. It now uses imported LNG.

Plant details

UnitFuelTypeCapacityOn lineStatus
1Heavy Oil / LNGSteam turbine125 MW1963Decommissioned 1984; scrapped
2Heavy Oil / LNGSteam turbine125 MW1963Decommissioned 1983; scrapped
3Heavy Oil / LNGSteam turbine250 MW1969Decommissioned 2009; scrapped
4Heavy Oil / LNGSteam turbine250 MW1969Decommissioned 2018; scrapped
5-1LNGACC545 MW2011operational
5-2LNGACC545 MW2011operational
6rLNGGas Turbine34 MW2012Decommissioned 2015; scrapped