Opening ceremony of EnergyBlock in Japan

The Japanese community of Kawaba and the forestry community Gunma can now independently produce electricity and heat from wood with the EnergyBlock from Spanner Re² GmbH. The Bavarian manufacturer have developed a complete “ready to use” solution which provides reliable and sustainable energy. The opening ceremony of the new EnergyBlock took place on May 9th.

The innovative EnergyBlock has been up and running since April of this year. The total operational solution includes Biomass CHP (Combined Heat and Power), coordinated conveying and discharge technology as well as a fully automatic wood chip drying plant. Due to the factory pre-installation and the ingenious "Plug & Play" system, the EnergyBlock started operation only two months after delivery.

The Biomass CHP has a power output of 45 kWel and 102 kWth, located in a 40 foot container. The electricity generated will be sold to private customers in Tokyo and fed into the public electricity grid for compensation. The resulting heat is used for drying the wood and for running a greenhouse in Kawaba.

This is a local project that will benefit the whole region. The community of Kawaba founded the company "Woodvillage Kawaba" to take over the plant operation and the wood used to fuel the EnergyBlock is generated only by local forest management.

"Kawaba´s total forest area covers 83 percent of the region. With this initiative, we want to push the progess of our community and to present a model for the further development of Japan", said Mayor Kyotaro Toyama at the opening ceremony. The pilot project of the community of Kawaba and the forestry community of Gunma has been well received.

"All the participants who are involved are excited, it’s fun to see the result - a solid technique is of course a requirement for this. As a manufacturer in Japan, we are close to the customer and - understand the natural environmental and social conditions. This understanding is jey to the success of the project and we will continue to focus on these factors for continued future success", said Dr. Oskar Bartenstein, Managing Director of Japan-based Spanner KK subsidiary.

Click here or on the picture to watch the video from the opening ceremony in Japan:

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