J-Power shuts down two coal-fired plants and commits to offshore wind project

J-Power, Japan's Electric Power Development Company (J-Power), announced on Friday that it would decommission 2 coal-fired plants by March 2029 in order to achieve its 2030 goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 46 percent from 2013.

Hitoshi Kano also reiterated the company's intention to complete the Oga, Katagami, and Akita offshore project in the northern Akita Prefecture within the framework of Japan's public auction second round.

J-Power is a wholesale supplier of electricity that relies on coal-fired production for more than half of its sales in the United States.

The Takasago Thermal Power Station in western Hyogo Prefecture is closing the No.1 unit and No.2 unit, both subcritical-pressure units that started operating in 1968 and 1969. Each plant has a capacity of 250 megawatts.

Kanno stated that "to achieve our 2030 goal, we must close remaining thermal units that are inefficient, but we must also maintain supply capacity .... We will decide after discussions with the authorities."

He said that the 700-MW unit No.3 at Takehara, in western Hiroshima Prefecture, as well as the 1,000-MW unit No.1 at Matsuura, in southern Nagasaki Prefecture would be candidates for closure in the future.

The utility's capacity to serve its domestic customers would be reduced by 12% if these units were closed, along with the Takasago ones.

The projected rise in Japan's electricity demand will be due to the growing needs of data centres and semiconductor factories, which is a reversal of years of decline.

Kanno said Japan needs to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy, especially offshore wind, in order to achieve carbon neutrality as well as energy security.

Costs of materials, equipment and labor are increasing globally. Mitsubishi Corp's withdrawal from three projects in the first round of auctions has created uncertainty for Japan's offshore market.

Kanno stated, "We are still pushing forward with the Katagami project in spite of rising costs."

Kanno stated that a consortium consisting of JERA J-Power Itochu Tohoku Electric Power and Vestas wind turbines aims to begin operations on the Oga-Katagami-Akita Project in autumn 2028.

Kanno stated that the government is reviewing the bidding rules to reopen the first round auction. However, any decisions made should be retroactively applied to the second and third rounds of projects. Reporting by Yuka Obayashi Editing Mark Potter

(source: Reuters)