LNG

JERA Co. Inc., Japan’s biggest liquefied natural gas importer and utility company, has issued a new “realistic pathway” for its growth strategy through 2035 led by more than 35 million tonnes per annum of LNG volumes and huge investments.

JERA Co. Inc., Japan’s biggest liquefied natural gas importer and utility company, reported an increase in fiscal full-year profits while revenues plunged nearly 22 percent because of a decrease in electric power sales.

March 28 (LNGJ) - Japan’s future LNG needs may be further affected by moves to bring the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear facility in central Japan, one of the largest in the world by output, back on line. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Holdings, the publicly listed company and plant operator majority-owned by the Government of Japan, said it had submitted a proposal to deliver nuclear fuel to the No. 7 reactor at its idled Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant as early as April 15.

   JERA Co. Inc., Japan’s largest LNG importer, is 50-percent owned by TEPCO and another 50 percent stake in JERA is held by Chubu Electric Power. TEPCO said it was seeking approval for the fuel plan from the Nuclear Regulation Authority. However, it was still uncertain whether the 1.35-million-kilowatt reactor located in the coastal area of Niigata Prefecture can actually be restarted soon because such a move still requires the consent of all local governments in the service area.

JERA Global Markets, the trading arm of Japan’s largest LNG and energy buyer and utility JERA Co. Inc., and ADNOC Gas, the recently spun-off unit of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in the United Arab Emirates, have signed a multi-year LNG supply agreement. 

JERA Co. Inc, the largest buyer of liquefied natural gas for Japan, has overhauled its senior management structure and appointed co-Chief Executives and removed the positions of Chairman and President.

JERA Co. Inc. of Japan, the largest corporate LNG buyer in the world, reported a loss in the fiscal third-quarter because of higher fuel procurement costs even as revenues more than doubled during the three months.

JERA Co. Inc., the largest Japanese LNG importer, has resumed operations at the gas-fired Anegasaki Thermal Power Station located on the eastern side of Tokyo Bay and currently under a long-term planned shutdown scheduled for February 2023.

JERA explained that that Unit 5 facility at the station was scheduled to resume operations on October 24 to supply auxiliary steam for the restart of Unit 6 at the Anegasaki power plant.

“Because the Unit had deteriorated over time and its utilization rate had declined, the Unit has been in a long-term planned shutdown since April 2021,” said JERA.

However, discussions at the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry's electricity and gas policy committee led to an agreement for a re-start to help underpin Japan’s energy security.

“JERA has lifted the Unit’s long-term planned shutdown and will operate it as part of measures to provide additional power supply capacity for this winter,” added JERA.

The utility company added that it would “make every effort” in cooperation with related parties to ensure a stable supply of energy to the plant and at other power facilities.

The 600-megawatts Anegasaki plant is a conventional gas plant and in operation using LNG as fuel since 1979.

The decision to shut the plant was taken in April 2021 before the current energy crisis deepened with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

JERA is the largest corporate LNG buyer in the world with annual volumes of around 35 million tonnes and controls a fleet of around 20 LNG carriers.

Additionally, it is Japan’s biggest fossil-fuel generator being owned jointly by Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Chubu Electric, the two largest power companies.

The company currently operates and provides fuel for a total of 26 power plants in Japan and imports LNG into 11 of Japan’s network of 37 terminals.

JERA Co. Inc., the largest Japanese LNG importer and power utility operator, said fiscal first-quarter operating revenues from April through June 2022 more than doubled because of soaring sales by fuel trading subsidiary JERA Global Markets (JERAGM) as well as a year-on-year increase in electricity sales.

JERA Co. Inc, the main Japanese LNG importer, has decided to issue its first energy transition bonds and spend part of the proceeds on decommissioning older thermal power stations.

JERA Co. Inc., the main Japanese LNG importer, is taking a series of new measures to ensure a stable supply of electricity in Japan in the face of a changing market and geopolitical events.