Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation has received an order from Hokkaido Electric Power for a variable-speed pumped storage hydropower generation system for Unit 3 of the Kyogoku pumped storage power plant in Hokkaido, Japan.
The order covers one 200MW variable-speed pump turbine and associated generating equipment. Unit 3 is scheduled to enter operation in fiscal year 2031, increasing the plant’s installed capacity to 600MW across three units.
The project comes as electricity demand in Hokkaido is expected to grow with the expansion of semiconductor manufacturing and data centres, while the continued deployment of renewable energy sources is increasing the need for grid balancing services.
The equipment supplier said its experience delivering the variable-speed systems for Kyogoku pumped storage Units 1 and 2, which entered commercial operation in 2014 and 2015 respectively, together with its wider experience in the technology, contributed to the contract award.
According to the company, it commercialised the world’s first variable-speed pumped storage hydropower system in 1990 and has since supplied the technology for projects in Japan and overseas. It also said it has delivered more than 2,700 hydropower generating facilities with a combined capacity exceeding 68,700MW since supplying equipment for Japan’s first commercial hydropower plant in 1894.
