Mitsubishi Shipbuilding to Build LNG Bunkering Vessel
Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co. signed a contract with KEYS Bunkering West Japan Co., Ltd. for construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessel, the first to operate in western Japan. The vessel will be built at the Enoura Plant at MHI’s Shimonoseki Shipyard & Machinery Works in Yamaguchi Prefecture, with completion and handover scheduled for March 2024.KEYS Bunkering West Japan is a joint venture company established in February 2022 to supply LNG fuel for ships in the Kyushu and Setouchi Regions…
RWE, Kyuden Mirai in Japan Offshore Wind Pact
RWE Renewables Japan, a Japanese branch of Germany's RWE Renewables, and Kyuden Mirai Energy Company, a Kyushu Electric Power company, have signed a Joint Bidding Agreement to enter into a full-scale feasibility study for the offshore wind power project planned off the coast of Yurihonjo City, Akita Prefecture."We will proceed with formal preparations of the public tender to be organized by the central government based on the Offshore Wind Promotion Law, as well as the Environmental Impact Assessment filing process," RWE said.The move comes a year after the two companies signed a deal to jointly study fixed-bottom off
Transborders Signs up MOL on FLNG Solution
Perth-based company Transborders Energy has entered a Joint Study Agreement (JSA) to work with Japan's Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) to together continue the development of its Floating LNG (FLNG) Solution and to pursue its deployment on a range of stranded offshore gas resource opportunities.Transborders’ FLNG Solution provides a pre-determined 1.3 MTPA FLNG development concept with a package of streamlined commercial & regulatory approval framework (including LNG buyers) to gas resource owners. Transborders’ Chairman Jack Sato says, “We are very pleased to welcome MOL as a strategic partner to our FLNG Solution.
Transborders Joins Forces with Osaka Gas
Perth-based Transborders Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for collaboration with Japan's Osaka Gas.The MOU will facilitate information and knowledge sharing for both companies to evaluate projects that could commercialize stranded offshore gas resources based on Transborders’ FLNG Solution.Transborders’ FLNG Solution provides a pre-engineered one point three (1.3) million tonne per annum floating LNG facility with a package of streamlined commercial arrangements and a robust regulatory approval execution plan to gas resource owners.Transborders’ Chairman Jack Sato says…
Japan Transfers Excess Renewable Power Between Regions for First Time
Japan transferred excess renewable energy supplies between two of its electricity regions for the first time since a major shakeup of its power sector, the country's grid monitor told Reuters.The transfer of excess solar power supplies from the island of Kyushu to Japan's main island of Honshu signals an increase in flexibility in the country's previously regionalized electricity grid as the market opens up to competition.Kyushu Electric Power Co transferred up to 1.125 gigawatts on Monday to five utilities including Kansai Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power after approval from the grid monitor known as OCCTO, an
NYK Line and Partners Set Up Second LNG Bunkering Project
NYK Line has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kyushu Electric Power, Saibu Gas, and The Chugoku Electric Power for joint discussions on the commercialization of a new business to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel to ships in the Setouchi and Kyushu areas of western Japan.This is the second LNG bunkering project NYK Line is engaged in after investing in an LNG bunkering vessel with "K" Line, Chubu Electric, and Toyota Tsusho Corporation."The demand for LNG as a marine fuel…
Japan Restarts Reactor as Return to Nuclear Gathers Pace
Japan's Kyushu Electric Power Co on Friday said it restarted a reactor at its Genkai plant, the fifth nuclear power station in the country to get cleared under new safety regulations imposed after the Fukushima disaster. The move signals that Japan's return to nuclear power - criticized by some as too slow but still opposed by a majority in opinion polls - is gathering pace. The country may have as many as eight reactors operating by early June, representing 20 percent of available units. All of the restarted reactors are located in western Japan…
Japan LNG Imports at 5-year High on Colder Weather
Japanese LNG imports reach 8.7 mln T in January, pressuring regional LNG market with China also hoovering up cargoes. Japanese imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) hit their highest in at least five years in January, with shipments expected to continue at a brisk pace this month as freezing weather keeps its grip on the world's top buyer of the fuel. Japan's imports of LNG rose to nearly 8.7 million tonnes last month, up 8 percent from December and the largest volume since at least January, 2013, according to ship tracking data on Thomson Reuters Eikon that stretches back five years.
Chevron Starts LNG Output at Wheatstone Project
Chevron Corporation announced it has started producing liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the Wheatstone Project in Western Australia. The first cargo is on track to be shipped in the coming weeks. “First LNG production is a significant milestone and is a credit to our partners, contractors and the many thousands of people who collaborated to deliver this legacy asset,” said Chevron Chairman and CEO John Watson. At full capacity, the Wheatstone Project’s two train LNG facility will supply 8.9 million metric tons per year of LNG for export to customers in Asia.
As Japan Re-embraces Nuclear Power, Safety Warnings Persist
Japan's re-embrace of nuclear power, on display last week with the recertification of two ageing reactors, is prompting some critics to warn that Tokyo is neglecting the lessons of Fukushima. In the first such step since the 2011 disaster, Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) on June 20 approved Kansai Electric Power Co's application to extend the life of two reactors beyond 40 years. As it became clear the NRA was going to allow the extensions, a former commissioner broke a silence maintained…
Japan Cut Oil Consumption as Reactor Restarts
Japan's Kyushu Electric Power is shutting down as many as five oil-fired generation units and cutting power purchases from other utilities as it ramps up its Sendai nuclear reactor, in another blow for an oversupplied crude market. Kyushu Electric began the restart of the Sendai No. 1 unit on Aug. 11, making it the first of the country's 43 reactors to return to operation under new safety standards put in place after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Japan's utilities turned to liquefied natural gas and coal in record amounts to make up for lost nuclear capacity after Fukushima…
No Repeat of Fukushima Under New Safety Rules - Japan's NRA
Japan's nuclear regulator said an accident on the scale of the 2011 Fukushima disaster would not occur under new safety rules imposed on reactors such as Kyushu Electric Power's Sendai No.1, set to be the first to restart since Fukushima, Japan's Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday. Sendai No.1 reactor is set to restart as early as next week. The Fukushima reactor meltdowns led to the eventual closure of all of Japan's reactors in September 2013 for checks and costly safety upgrades. "We will make completely sure that the reactor is operating as it should…
Asian LNG Spot Climbs as Jordan, Pakistan Buy
Asian liquefied natural gas (LNG) spot prices for September delivery were higher on Friday supported by nearby demand from new importers including Jordan and Pakistan, traders said. The price of Asian spot cargoes rose to $8.10 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), from $7.80 the previous week. "(It's) just unexpected demand with very short lead times," said a trader. Jordan is expected to announce results of a tender for two cargoes for delivery in early September on July 29, while Pakistan has held several tenders to buy at short notice.
Japan's Sendai Reactors Restart to Cut LNG, Oil Use
The scheduled restart of Japan's first reactor in nearly two years next month would save around 850,000 tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year, according to Reuters calculations based on data from the country's industry ministry. Kyushu Electric Power is set to restart one of its Sendai reactors in southwestern Japan in August, pending a final sign-off by the nuclear regulator. It would be the first restart of a reactor in Japan after the Fukushima meltdowns of 2011 led to the eventual closure of all of the nation's reactors in September 2013 for checks and costly safety upgrades.
Japan Weighs Energy Options, Costs Mount for Idled Reactors
Since March 2011, Japan's government has focused on the cost of cleaning up after Fukushima, the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. Now, the bill is coming due for another unbudgeted consequence of that disaster - shutting down the nation's 48 remaining nuclear reactors for costly safety reviews that could see many of them mothballed. While their reactors have been idled, Japan's nuclear plant operators have had to spend around $87 billion to burn replacement fossil fuels. This, in part, explains the utilities' estimated combined losses of around $47 billion as of March…
