Japan's JERA will restart coal-biomass combustion at Taketoyo by 2027

JERA, Japan's largest power generator, announced on Friday that it will restart coal and biofuel co-firing in its Taketoyo Thermal Power Station in central Japan by the end of the fiscal year starting April 2026. This follows a fire.

Taketoyo is one of the largest power plants in Japan, with a capacity of 1,070 Megawatts. On Jan. 31 a fire broke out in the station, resulting in the immediate suspension of the plant's operations.

JERA, a non-listed company owned jointly by Tokyo Electric Power (TEP) and Chubu Electric Power (CEP), said that it would restart operation initially with a biomass firing rate of 8%. This is lower than the original planned 17%. The move was taken as a precautionary step to avoid similar incidents.

In a press release, the utility said that it would consider raising the rate of co-firing under the premise of safety.

To ensure stable electricity supplies, the utility will only operate coal during winter and summer high demand seasons beginning around January 2025.

JERA said that it would proceed with its planned Taketoyo operations reduction to achieve its CO2 emission-reduction goal. (Reporting and editing by Janane Vekatraman; Yuka Obayashi)

(source: Reuters)