Japan’s LNG trading giant and power generation firm, Jera, said it would restart two old LNG plants to provide additional power during this summer.
The joint venture of Tepco and Chubu Electric said in a statement on Monday it was selected among power generation company bidders at a public auction, conducted by general electricity transmission and distribution companies.
According to Jera, the public auction took place to secure additional power supply capacity (kW) and electricity supply volume (kWh) to Japan as a measure to address summer supply and demand.
Also, the move follows discussions at the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry’s Electricity and Gas Basic Policy Subcommittee, it said.
Jera said the public auction offered additional power supply capacity of 1.2 GW for the kW action, and electricity supply volume of 1 TWh for the kWh auction, for the period from July 1 to August 31 this year.
Jera won the bid in the kW auction for the power supply capacity of its Anegasaki thermal power station unit 5 and Chita thermal power station unit 5.
The JV also won the bid in the kWh auction for approximately 80 GWh of electricity supply. Jera said it would strive to supply the electricity through the electricity market.
Restarting old LNG power plants
Jera has already shut down the fifth unit at the Anegasaki plant and the fifth unit at the Chiba plant.
Launched in 1977, the LNG-powered unit 5 at the Anegasaki plant has a capacity of 600 MW.
Jera said earlier this year it had closed this unit and other three old LNG-fueled units at its Anegasaki power plant in Chiba as it works on three new units.
The firm closed units 1 through 4 built between 1967 and 1972, each with a capacity of 600 MW, as part of a move to slash emissions and boost efficiency.
Jera is also building new LNG-powered units at its Chita thermal station in the Aichi prefecture.
The firm shut down the fifth unit with a capacity of 700 MW in April this year. This unit started operations back in March 1978.
Jera said it would now prepare to restart both the fifth unit at the Anegasaki power plant and the fifth unit at the Chita plant.