The Nippon Steel Oita Works No. 9 unit went into commercial operation on April 1, 2002. This plant was designed and constructed to sell the generated electric power to Kyushu Electric Power Company. This facility has an output capacity of 330MW. It is the largest facility of its kind in Japan that can utilize a combination of low calorie gas generated from production processes and coal to produce thermal power.
MHI supplied the subcritical pressure boiler (steam-generating capacity: 1050t/h), the steam turbines, the generators and NOx removal equipment, and the electrostatic precipitator and SOx removal equipment. This facility is located within the Nippon Steel Oita Works in order to use low calorie gas generated from production processes, and the system is designed to utilize these gas in combination with coal and also independently for partial load operations.
As an IPP (Independent Power Producer) power plant, this is the largest capacity power plant utilizing outdoor type steam turbines in Japan. This type of turbine was chosen for its streamlined, rationalized design and performance features.
In addition, regular operations can be controlled from the Steel Works Energy Center.