As war disrupts LNG exports, Japan is considering increasing coal-fired energy

The Japanese industry ministry plans to propose increasing the use of coal-fired electricity generation in the fiscal year starting in April as the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran creates uncertainty about liquefied gas imports.

Japan imports around 6% of all its LNG through the Strait of Hormuz, which is effectively closed because of the war.

The Ministry of Economic, Trade, and Industry proposes to suspend for one year the 50% cap on the capacity utilization rate of coal-fired plants in a proposal to be submitted to a government expert group.

METI stated that the LNG consumption would fall by 0.5 million tonnes a year or slightly more than 10 percent of?the LNG imported via the Strait of Hormuz.

The proposal was not approved as soon as expected. The Nikkei newspaper, which reported on the plan for the first time on Thursday, stated that the prime minister would be making a similar announcement.

METI data revealed that Japan has an LNG stockpile in the region of 4 million tons. The?thermal energy generation in Japan is largely based on LNG, coal and oil. (Reporting and writing by Yuka Obayashi; editing by Himani Sarkar, Christopher Cushing and Katya Golubkova)

(source: Reuters)