The nation's biggest power utilities are pushing ahead with plans to spend more on new turbines to improve the efficiency of their gas-fired power plants in an effort to lower fuel bills amid a protracted debate over the role of nuclear power.
Chubu Electric Power Co. signed an agreement with General Electric Co. on Tuesday to upgrade eight turbines at a gas-fired plant in Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture. Tokyo Electric Power Co., the nation's biggest utility, is replacing eight turbines at its 3,352-megawatt gas-fired facility in Yokohama, and Kansai Electric Power Co. in March completed installation of some of the most efficient turbines in the world at its Himeji No. 2 plant in Hyogo Prefecture.
The upgrades occur against the backdrop of rising electricity prices — power bills in Japan have increased about 15 percent since the March 2011 Fukushima reactor meltdowns — and a squeeze on profits at the utilities, which were forced after the nuclear disaster to rely on more expensive fossil fuels for power generation. Tepco estimates savings of as much as ¥8 billion a year once all the turbines at its Yokohama plant are replaced by January 2018.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.