Opinions of the Minister of the Environment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Replacement of No.1 Unit in the Sakaide Thermal Power Station

On March 23, 2007, the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) submitted the Minister's opinions on the draft environmental impact statement for the replacement of No.1 unit in the Sakaide Thermal Power Station in Kagawa Prefecture, owned by Shikoku Electric Power Co., Inc. to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, in accordance with the provisions of the Environmental Impact Assessment Law and the Electric Utility Law.

This project plans to switch the power station's fuel from heavy oil and coke oven gas to natural gas, and replace the existing power generating systems to the natural gas-fired combined cycle generating systems. The MOE commented on the following issues of this project:

1. Greenhouse gas (CO2) emission
Further decrease the unit CO2 emission of the total electricity sold by the company by 1) increasing the operating rate of these new systems, and 2) employing an optimum combination of the company's power stations.

2. Water quality
Reduce the discharge of the water pollutants from the whole power station as much as possible by appropriately managing the operation of the electricity generation-related facilities and the wastewater treatment facilities.

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