Episode 3
The origins of Kurabo’s biomass power generation
Our desire for environmentally friendly energy
1915
Kurabo builds on-site power plant
to electrify its factory
In the early 20th century, an electric power revolution was beginning to sweep across Japan’s industry. Kurabo’s Kurashiki Mill, which had depended on a coal-fired steam engine, was due for an overhaul of its power source, and it became our mission to modernize the plant by incorporating electrical power.
In order to provide electricity to the city of Kurashiki, in 1909 Kurabo’s second president, Magosaburo Ohara, established Kurashiki Dento and became its president. This spurred Kurabo to electrify its own operations, so in 1915 the company built the Kurashiki Power Plant. The power company established by Magosaburo later merged with other nearby power companies to form the nucleus of today’s Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc.
2016
Kurabo enters biomass power
generation field
In the face of global warming, the world is striving to lessen its dependence on fossil fuels by switching to renewable energy sources. Kurabo built a wood biomass power plant at its Tokushima Plant by utilizing the incineration technologies built up over the years in its engineering business. Besides reducing environmental burden, the power plant provides electricity equivalent to that used by up to 11,000 average homes.
The biomass power plant combines Kurabo’s fluidized-bed boiler—an evolution of our fluidized-bed incineration technology—with steam turbines. It runs on timber from forest thinning, thus helping protect forests and stimulate the local forestry industry.
Kurabo’s DNA lives on from generation to generation
Newspaper ad published in 2017