Tag - utilities

 
 

UTILITIES

A liquefied natural gas plant operated by Sakhalin Energy in Sakhalin, Russia. Japan, the world's second biggest LNG buyer, depends on Russia for 9% of its LNG.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Dec 12, 2024
Rival supplies and depleting fields give Japan an exit from Russian gas
Japan, the world's second-biggest liquefied natural gas buyer, depends on Russia for 9% of its LNG.
Surging development costs, supply chain issues and higher inflation have heavily weighed on the offshore wind sector in recent years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 9, 2024
BP and JERA to combine offshore wind operations in joint venture
The 50-50 venture, called JERA Nex BP, will include operating assets and development projects with a potential generation capacity of 13 gigawatts.
Tokyo Gas’ LNG terminal in Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 20, 2024
Tokyo Gas shares jump most since 1987 after activist fund discloses major stake
Elliott Investment Management said it now owns more than 5% of Tokyo Gas and may make "important proposals” to the utility provider.
Shares in retailers may rise after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba formed a minority government that may cut taxes to lure cooperation from opposition parties.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 12, 2024
Minority government in Japan can help retail stocks and utilities
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba may cut taxes to keep smaller parties on side — increasing workers’ disposable income.
The Goi thermal power station in Chiba Prefecture
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Oct 18, 2024
Japanese youth sue utilities over climate impact
The plaintiffs, all in their teens and 20s, say it is the first such case brought by young people in Japan.
The units under construction at Jera's liquefied natural gas fired power plant inside the company's Anegasaki Thurmal Power Station in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, in June 2022
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2024
Japan and South Korea to expand initiative to cut methane emissions
Methane's greenhouse effect is believed to be more than 20 times that of carbon dioxide. Leaks of methane from gas fields are a major issue that need to be dealt with.
Jera's liquefied natural gas fired power plant inside the company's Anegasaki Thurmal Power Station in Ichihara, Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 5, 2024
Japan firms unite to cut methane emissions from LNG supply
Twenty-two firms are joining an initiative that aims to leverage their buying power to curb methane emissions from liquefied natural gas supply chains.
For a billionaire with a mission to prevent climate change, “He greened the energy policy of the world’s fourth-biggest economy (Japan),” would make a hell of an epitaph for Mike Cannon-Brookes. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 29, 2024
An activist investor could green Japan for $700 million
For a billionaire with a mission to prevent climate change, "Greened the energy policy of the world’s fourth-biggest economy” would make a hell of an epitaph.
Naotoshi Iwamoto of Kansai Transmission and Distribution explains about how power grid operators cooperated to restore electricity in areas affected by the Jan. 1 Noto Peninsula earthquake.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2024
Industry collaboration leads to early power recovery in Noto
Eight regional utility groups dispatched a total of more than 4,000 workers to help restore power to more than 90% of outage-hit areas within about a month of the quake.
It is estimated that the cleanup at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant will cost around ¥23 trillion ($157 billion).
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2024
Tepco to demonstrate removal of radioactive debris from Fukushima No. 1
About 880 metric tons of fuel debris remain in the three reactors that suffered a meltdown.
Jera reported ¥93.4 billion in profit for the April-June quarter, down 48% from the year-before period.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2024
JERA's April-June profit halves; Taketoyo plant remains shut
The 1,070-megawatt (MW) Taketoyo power station in Aichi Prefecture has been shut since it was hit by a fire on Jan. 31.
As metal prices rise, so do cases of theft, with more and an increasing number of metal cables being stolen from solar power plants in Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 1, 2024
Japan's solar plants see over 9,000 cases of cable theft since 2023
The survey were the first to be conducted by the National Police Agency on the situation, at a time when metal prices are rising.
The electricity bill for a standard household in the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings service area for August is expected to fall by ¥1,061.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2024
Tepco bill to fall by ¥1,000 for standard household in August
The government has decided to resume a subsidy program for three months starting August.
The central government will provide subsidies to slash electricity and city gas bills of ¥4 per kilowatt-hour of electricity and ¥17.5 per cubic meter of city gas.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2024
Japan to offer average of ¥2,125 per month in subsidies for utility bills
The move is designed to cushion the impact of rising prices on households in the summer, which is expected to be among the hottest on record.
Support staff dispatched by power firms work to restore electrical equipment in an area hit by the Noto Peninsula earthquake in Ishikawa Prefecture.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jun 4, 2024
Major Japan power firms boost cooperation on disaster response
The electric power sector has established a framework to streamline the dispatch of support personnel and facilitate mutual aid to cover restoration expenses.
Jera’s Hekinan thermal power station in Hekinan, Aichi Prefecture
BUSINESS
May 24, 2024
Jera warns of switching investment from Australia over lack of support
The lack of financial support for production of hydrogen and ammonia took some of the shine off Australia as a destination for Japanese investment.
JERA's Hekinan thermal power station in Aichi prefecture. JERA plans to invest in renewable energy and new fuels.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2024
JERA to invest $32 billion in LNG, renewables and new fuels
JERA plans to phase out inefficient coal-fired thermal power by fiscal year 2030.
A key aspect of AI technology that is often forgotten is that it requires an enormous amount of energy to develop and run. And that’s where utilities come in.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Apr 28, 2024
AI boom’s secret winners? The companies expected to power it
Across the U.S., utilities are preparing for historic increases in electricity demand led by data centers and AI.
The Anegasaki gas-fired power station in Chiba Prefecture
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2024
Rapidly weakening yen threatens higher power bills
Pricier power illustrates the far-reaching impact of the yen’s decline.
Yukio Kani, chairman and global CEO of Jera
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 15, 2024
Japan’s top power producer Jera considers IPO to fund green push
The Tokyo-based company plans to develop 20 gigawatts of renewable generation capacity by fiscal 2035.

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition