On October 13, 2020, JERA, On October 13, 2020, JERA (a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Fuel & Power (headquarters: Tokyo) and Chubu Electric Power (Headquarters: Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture)), announced that it will shut down all of its inefficient coal-fired power plants in Japan by 2030.[1] Shuttering inefficient coal plants is in line with the Japanese government’s policy, but this is the first time that a power company has announced that it will match that policy. The Japanese government has not set a definition of an inefficient coal-fired plant, but JERA said it sees inefficient plants as power plants that use “supercritical or less” technology. The company declined to say how many coal plants it will be closing due to competitive concerns.

JERA also announced that it aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 to tackle climate change. To achieve this target, JERA plans to expand renewable energy through offshore wind farms while also using greener fuels like ammonia and hydrogen at its thermal power plants. The company intends to start a pilot program to use ammonia as a fuel with coal in mixed combustion at its Hekinan thermal power station in central Japan by 2030 and hopes to achieve 20% use of ammonia at its coal-fired power plants by 2035. Other measures of the plan include improving efficiency of gas-fired power plants and burning hydrogen in mixed combustion at gas-fired power stations.

[1] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/10/13/national/power-firm-jera-shut-inefficient-coal-fired-plants-2030/