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The Cause of the 31 January Fire at Taketoyo Thermal Power Station2024/05/01

JERA Co., Ltd. has sought to identify the cause of the of the fire that occurred at Taketoyo Thermal Power Station on 31 January based on the thorough investigation and analysis conducted by the Accident Investigation Committee for the Fire at Taketoyo Thermal Power Station (“the Committee”).
We hereby announce that the cause of the accident was reported and compiled at the third meeting of the Committee, held on 30 April.

 

We believe that the accident occurred due to a combination of the following causes:
・The generation of a large quantity of dust due to the high-speed transport of large amounts of woody biomass fuel.
・ The concentration of dust exceeded the lower explosive limit in the coal feeder that supplies woody biomass fuel from the belt conveyor and inside the bunker where the fuel is temporarily stored.
・ Inside the coal feeder, excessive force applied to the belt generated heat-generating friction in components beneath it, leading to the ignition of biomass fuel dust that had collected in hard-to-clean spaces and causing an explosion.

 

Based on the causes of the accident, JERA will, through the Committee, consider measures to prevent accident recurrence.

 

Attachment: On the Fire Accident at Taketoyo Thermal Power Station (Japanese Only)[PDF: 3.1 MB]