New Industry Minister: Japan will keep nuclear but boost renewables as part of its energy mix
Japan will continue to restart nuclear power plants safely and use as much renewable electricity as possible, said Industry Minister Yojimuto on Wednesday. This indicates that the policy of newly appointed Prime Minister ShigeruIshiba is not likely to change significantly. Ishiba had promised…
Japan Faces LNG Shortage Amid Supply crunch, Cold Weather
JERA, Japan's biggest electricity generator and the world's largest buyer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), is operating gas- power plants at lower rates as it runs down inventories amid rising heating demand as temperatures drop.The company joins other Japanese power generators reducing run rates on their gas plants as they compete with LNG buyers across nort
Japan's JERA Books Hefty One-off Losses on 2019/20 LNG Supplies
Japan's JERA, the world's biggest buyer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), booked tens of billions of yen in estimated one-off losses on its supply in the year ended on March 31, due to slumping prices, its president Satoshi Onoda said on Thursday. The losses highlight the issue for Japanese utilities…
Japan's JERA, France's ADEME, Ideol in Floating Wind Pact
Japanese power generator JERA said on Monday it has agreed with France's state-owned investment firm ADEME Investissement and French floating wind technology supplier Ideol on key terms for forming a joint venture to develop floating offshore wind farms.They aim to make a final agreement…
Orsted Hopes COVID-19 Will Not Slow Japan's Offshore Wind Projects
Orsted, the world's largest offshore wind farm developer, is concerned the coronavirus may delay auctions for offshore projects as it prepares to enter the market, the head of its Asia-Pacific unit said. "The pandemic will not influence investment decisions and general confidence in offshore wind…
RWE Enters Taiwanese Offshore Wind Market
RWE, Europe's third-largest renewables group, is partnering with Taiwan's Asia Cement Corp to enter one of the strongest-growing offshore wind markets outside Europe, its renewable arm said on Thursday.The partnership is for the Chu Feng offshore wind project, which intends to participate in the next grid allocation round in Taiwan's offshore auction…
Osaka Gas Looks to Sell Spare LNG in Europe
Japan's Osaka Gas has offered two liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes from the newly-commissioned Freeport LNG project in the United States for delivery into Europe, industry sources said.Mild weather in Japan and a weaker Chinese economy have helped to drag the global LNG market to multi…
50 years of LNG imports in Japan
Japanese gas buyers marked the 50th anniversary since the first cargo of liquefied natural gas arrived in Japan, now the world’s biggest importer of the fuel.On November 4th, 1969, LNG was first imported to Japan. Tokyo Electric Power Company (now JERA Co., Inc.) and Tokyo Gas, through Mitsubishi Corporation acting as a buyer’s agent…
Japan Marks 50 years of LNG Imports
Japanese gas buyers on Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary since the first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) arrived in Japan, now the world's biggest importer of the fuel.The arrival of the cargo on Nov. 4, 1969 helped transform Japan's energy system, which had relied on oil, coal and gas from coal in an era of high growth…
Ørsted, Tepco Join Forces for Japan Offshore Push
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Danish energy business Orsted to work together on offshore wind projects.In a press release, TEPCO said that it had been “exploring offshore wind business opportunities” in both Japan and overseas.
Water at Fukushima Site is Still Radioactive
The owner of the Fukushima nuclear plant, destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami more than seven years ago, said water treated at the site still contains radioactive materials that for years it has insisted had been removed.The admission by Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) could ruin its chances of releasing the water into the ocean…
What Glencore-Tohoku Coal talk Impass Means for Market
Electric utilities in Japan and other Asian countries are driving blind when it comes to coal prices after the failure of Japan's Tohoku Electric and Glencore to agree on an annual thermal coal contract that is used to set prices for the region. Tohoku Electric, a major Japanese utility, and Glencore…
New LNG Import Terminal Planned at Port Kembla
A consortium including Japan's JERA Co and Marubeni Corp aiming to ship liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Australia's east coast has chosen a site south of Sydney at Port Kembla for an import terminal, it said on Monday.The project will allow access to a new gas supply for local industries in New South Wales state by 2020…
Freeport LNG Delays Start of Texas Export Terminal
Freeport LNG, a privately held U.S. liquefied natural gas company, said on Thursday it pushed back the projected start date for its $13 billion export terminal under construction in Texas by about nine months to around Sept. 1, 2019.Freeport LNG now expects the first liquefaction train to enter service around Sept.
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…
Osaka Gas Plans Resales of 3 Mln T of LNG by 2020
Japan's Osaka Gas plans to raise its resales of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to third parties to 3 million tonnes a year by 2020, a top executive said on Wednesday, a move that would create more liquidity to Asia's emerging natural gas markets. Most Asian LNG is supplied under fixed term contracts…
Swiss Traders Grab $10 Billion Slice of LNG Market
Traders mopping up LNG glut, finding new emerging market buyers. Swiss trading houses are muscling in on the global market for liquefied natural gas, until now the preserve of energy giants, and expect to grab a $10 billion share of the rapidly growing business this year. Trafigura, Gunvor…
Top LNG Buyers Form Alliance to Push for Flexible Contracts
The world's biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) buyers are clubbing together to secure more flexible supply contracts in a move that further shifts power to buyers rather than producers. Japan, China and South Korea are the world's biggest LNG importers, accounting for about 55 percent of global purchases…
Japan Pays Dearly for U.S. Shale Cargoes
Japan in January paid nearly twice as much for liquefied natural gas (LNG) derived from U.S. shale gas as it did for its cheapest imports, official trade data showed on Friday. Shale gas from the United States had been touted as a panacea to Japan's energy crisis after the Fukushima nuclear disaster nearly six years ago.
Not Clear if Material under Fukushima Reactor is Melted Fuel
Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) , operator of Japan's wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, said on Monday it is not clear if material found below the damaged No. 2 reactor at the site is melted nuclear fuel. The utility inserted a camera under the reactor vessel and images from the probe showed black material coating a grating.
