Home / Asia / Japan / NSC Muroran Works power station

NSC Muroran Works power station

Coal power plant in Hokkaido, Japan. Approximate location 42.3507, 140.993.

CoalHokkaidoJapansubcritical

NSC Muroran Works power station is a 245 MW coal power station in Hokkaido, Japan. It is operated by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 307k homes (estimated). It ranks #188 of 692 Japan power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1999, it is around 27 years old — long-established. In context, coal supplies about 32.1% of Japan's electricity; the national grid averages 477 gCO₂/kWh (32.7% low-carbon) (2025).

245Source-backed capacity
306,600homes powered (est.)
1999commissioned (~27 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1075843.

Data status

Known data

FacilityNSC Muroran Works power station WRI
CountryJapan · Hokkaido WRI
Coordinates42.3507, 140.993 WRI
FuelCoal WRI
MW installed capacity245 MW WRI source record; scope not independently normalised
OwnerNippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal WRI
Commissioned1999 WRI
Technologysubcritical WRI

Calculated from dataset

CO₂ emissions1,073,100 t CO₂/yr calculated
Capacity rank in country#188 of 692 calculated
Fuel-specific rank in country#48 of 94 calculated
Capacity vs country/fuel peers0.98× · 250 MW median · 94 peers calculated
Homes-powered equivalent306,600 calculated
Climate8.5°C · HDD 3,530 derived from coordinates
Environmental severityC4 · 36/100 derived from coordinates

Not available

GWh reported / yrNot available not in dataset

Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.

Capacity provenance

The public capacity above is the current source-record value. A 2026 tracker candidate lists 145 MW for NSC Muroran Works power station, but it is not used as the public primary value until scope is verified (unit vs operating vs installed/project total).

Capacity claim grade: A2_GENERAL_REVIEW - recommended action: manual_source_check - confidence: medium_low. This follows a claim-based data model: value + scope + source + confidence, rather than silently overwriting records.

Data provenance

The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.

capacity: GEM tracker 2026 (location L100000102903); fuel: WRI source-record fuel

In context: how this plant compares

At 245 MW, NSC Muroran Works power station is around the median coal plant in Japan (250 MW). Technically it is described as subcritical. Coal plants burn pulverised coal to raise high-pressure steam for a turbine; they run as baseload but are the most carbon-intensive mainstream source and the first targeted for retirement or efficiency retrofits.

Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.

Capacity vs largest coal plants in Japan

Hekinan power station: 4,100 MW4kHekinan po…J-POWER Tachibana-wan power station: 2,100 MW2kJ-POWER Ta…Haramachi power station: 2,000 MW2kHaramachi …Hitachinaka power station: 2,000 MW2kHitachinak…Matsuura power station: 2,000 MW2kMatsuura p…Shinchi power station: 2,000 MW2kShinchi po…Nakoso power station: 1,975 MW2kNakoso pow…Maizuru power station: 1,800 MW2kMaizuru po…

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal.

Local climate & thermal context

This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 42.4°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

8.5°Cannual mean temp
3,530heating degree-days (base 18°C)
78cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
67 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: -2 °CJF: -2 °CFM: 0 °CMA: 6 °CAM: 10 °CMJ: 14 °CJJ: 18 °CJA: 20 °CAS: 18 °CSO: 12 °CON: 6 °CND: 1 °CD20 °C

Heating degree-days here run 44% above the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 76/100 — this site sits in the top third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

Site climate & environmental severity

For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.

C4ISO 9223 corrosivity (indicative)
36/100environmental-severity index
22.3°Cseasonal temperature swing
42 kmdistance to coast

Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #48 largest coal power plant of 94 in Japan by capacity.

Japan has 94 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 53,431 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 42.3507, 140.993 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions

What type of power plant is NSC Muroran Works power station?

NSC Muroran Works power station is a 245 MW source-record coal power plant in Hokkaido, Japan, commissioned in 1999.

How many homes can NSC Muroran Works power station power?

Its output is enough to supply roughly 306,600 homes (estimated).

Who operates NSC Muroran Works power station?

NSC Muroran Works power station is operated by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal.

Built from open public data; no personal information. Operate this site? Request a correction or removal.