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Hokkaido Electric Power (Hepco) commenced operations of its 50MW Tomato biomass power plant in Hokkaido, Japan, on 13 February. The plant will consume approximately 200,000 tons of wood pellets annually, mainly imported from Vietnam and Indonesia, to produce up to 340GWh of electricity per year.

The energy generated will be sold under Japan's feed-in tariff (FiT) system at ¥24/kWh for 20 years. The facility's launch was postponed from the original date of April 2025. Tomato Biomass Power, the plant's operating company, is an 80% owned joint venture by Singapore's Equis and 20% by Hepco, which will also manage maintenance. Hepco plans to implement carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology by 2030-31 and is exploring methane production from captured CO2.