Relationship between Feedstock Price and Break-Even Point of Woody Biomass Power Generation under FIT Program

Abstract

In July 2012, the Government of Japan introduced the “Feed-in Tariff (FIT) Program for Renewable Energy Use”. Currently, quite a few woody biomass power plants are under construction in various regions to take advantage of the FIT program. Unutilized forest biomass is expected to use for the fuel in the biomass power generation. However the supply cost, including cutting and transportation costs, of unutilized forest biomass is varied from the geological condition. Decision of the target supply cost depends on the transaction price of biomass at the power plant. The purpose of this study is to provide an information of feedstock cost on brake-even point of the biomass power generation. Electricity production cost of biomass power generation is estimated by establishment of cost estimation model. The feedstock cost on break-even point of biomass power generation in the scale range of 500 - 20,000 kW is estimated. These values may help the decision of the target supply cost of the biomass in the forest sector.