Japan power generators facing LNG shortage amid supply crunch, cold weather
JERA, Japan’s biggest electricity generator and the world’s largest buyer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), is operating gas- power plants at lower rates as it runs down inventories amid rising heating demand as temperatures drop.
The company joins other Japanese power generators reducing run rates on their gas plants as they compete with LNG buyers across northern Asia scrambling to secure supplies, sending prices higher.
Tight fuel supplies are also highlighting vulnerabilities in Japan’s electricity grid that make it harder to swap power supplies between areas a decade after the Fukushima nuclear disaster set off government-led changes to prevent such situations.
2 Min Read
TOKYO, Jan 7 (Reuters) - JERA, Japan’s biggest electricity generator and the world’s largest buyer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), is operating gas- power plants at lower rates as it runs down inventories amid rising heating demand as temperatures drop.
The company joins other Japanese power generators reducing run rates on their gas plants as they compete with LNG buyers across northern Asia scrambling to secure supplies, sending prices higher.
Tight fuel supplies are also highlighting vulnerabilities in Japan’s electricity grid that make it harder to swap power supplies between areas a decade after the Fukushima nuclear disaster set off government-led changes to prevent such situations.
2 Min Read
TOKYO, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Japanese energy regulators have stepped up surveillance of the electricity market as prices have surged in recent days, hitting successive records and the price topping 100 yen per kilowatt hour (kWh) on Wednesday.
Power prices on the Japan Electric Power Exchange (JEPX) have been jolted higher as electricity generators struggle with capacity, higher input costs and colder temperatures that are driving demand for heating.
The Electricity and Gas Market Surveillance Commission is closely watching trading on JEPX, Yoshiaki Kuroda, director of market policy planning, told Reuters by phone.
“We are taking extra care with surveillance to see whether there is any improper trading as power prices have rallied significantly since the middle of last month,” he said.