Japanese electricity provider Erex and Samsung C&T Japan, the trading and construction arm of the Samsung group, have signed a basic agreement to build a biomass power plant in Niigata Prefecture targeting the growing power demands of artificial intelligence data centres.
The partners plan to establish a special purpose company to operate the plant and manage fuel procurement. Palm kernel shells and wood pellets sourced largely from Southeast Asia — where both companies have existing supply networks, including in Indonesia — will serve as the primary fuels. The plant is expected to begin generating around 110MW when it comes online in fiscal 2029, with the partners considering expansion from fiscal 2030. The project is eligible for a Japanese government programme providing a guaranteed level of revenue.
The plant will be Erex's fifth biomass facility in Japan and its first specifically targeting data centre supply. The companies said biomass is particularly well suited to this application given its ability to generate stable, dispatchable power — a key advantage over solar and wind, which are weather-dependent — and its compatibility with the low-emissions electricity preferences of major technology companies.
The partners are also exploring the possibility of locating data centres directly at power plant sites, a model that could bypass grid connection queues that can currently stretch to ten years for new data centre connections in Japan.
Erex and Samsung C&T Japan plan biomass plant to power AI data centres
