The Kansai Electric Power Co Inc. (KEPCO) announced that a 5.6MW woody biomass power plant has started commercial operation in Asago City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. It is the KEPCO group's first woody biomass power plant and was built on about 0.7ha of land in the city. It is expected to generate about 37,000,000kWh of electricity, which is equivalent to the amount consumed by 12,000 households, per year. The plant uses wood chips produced from woods that are left in a forest after thinning, etc.