Japanese geothermal plants to get more funding

Japan will support seven projects that generate electricity from hot springs.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said it will provide all the funds for the surveys for the seven projects through the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation.

It said the projects will cover six regions, including the Atagawa hot springs area in Higashiizu, Shizuoka Prefecture; the Arifuku spa area in Gotsu, Shimane Prefecture and the Hokkaido town of Ashoro, a hot springs source.

In geothermal power generation using hot springs, electricity is produced by spinning a steam turbine with hot water taken from a source of hot springs or wells.

This method is to develop than other geothermal power generation projects because there is no need to dig deep wells to extract steam. Hot springs power generation could become operational in about two years after starting a survey project.