Matsukawa Geothermal Power Plant

This power plant started operating in 1966. It was the first geothermal power plant for commercial use in Japan. The output at the start of operations was 9,500 kW. The output was gradually increased and reached 23,500 kW in 1993. The facility is still in active service after 50 years, and the major structures and equipment that had been designed and manufactured at the time of the inauguration are still in use. The Matsukawa Geothermal Power Plant comprises a group of equipment that show together that the plant was a leader in technology development, as a forerunner of the use of renewable energy in Japan and that in its resolution of various problems unique to geothermal energy.