FIRST J-POWER SHUTS DOWN X SOUTHEAST ASIA PLANS FOR NEW COALFIRED POWER PLANT JAPAN
Dr Bikal Kumar Pokharel, Wood Mackenzie Japan’s biggest coal-fired power company has plans to reduce carbon emissions.
J-Power has decided to scrap its plans to build a 1.2 gigawatt (GW) coal-fired power plant in Yamaguchi, western Japan after a comprehensive assessment of the changing business environment. The power company is considered the biggest coal-fired power company in Japan. “We have decided to cancel our plan after considering demand outlook in western Japan, rising capacity of renewable energy and other circumstances surrounding our business environment,” Hitoshi Kanno, executive managing officer at J-Power said. The move comes after Chugoku Electric Power and JFE Steel cancelled a plan to build a thermal power station last month, amidst growing global trends in decarbonisation. J-Power said that instead, it plans to build a gasification facility at the No.2 coal-fired power plant in its Matsushima station in Nagasaki, southern Japan, to improve efficiency and curb carbon emissions. “We aim to further reduce CO2 emissions by cofiring biomass and ammonia in the future and use carbon capture utilisation and storage technology in the future. It would be the first step toward our goal of releasing CO2-free hydrogen power generation and CO2-free hydrogen production and supply,” Kanno said. The company also plans to use technology it developed in its Osaki CoolGen’s project in Hiroshima, which generates electricity with both gas turbines and steam turbines through a coal gasification combined cycle, turning coal into a combustible gas with a high proportion of hydrogen. With the gasification system added to the existing 500 megawatt power plant, the 40-yearold plant is estimated to improve its efficiency by 5 percentage points to 46% and reduce CO2 emissions by 11% from the current level. This decision was further strengthened by Japan’s recent vow to cut down greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 46% by 2030 from 2013 levels, a sharp uptick from the 26% cut it pledged last 2015. Japan aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 by promoting renewables and cutting its reliance on fossil fuels. Japan’s Strategic Energy Plan said that the share of renewables in the power mix should increase from 17% in fiscal year 2018 to 22-24% by 2030. Recent data showed that GHG emissions decreased by 2.9% in the FY 2019-2020 to 1,212 MtCO2eq, their lowest level since 1990-1991, according to final figures from the Japanese Ministry of the Environment. 6 ASIAN POWER
China has around 247GW of coal power projects under development.
Why China should retire its coal plants
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CHINA
ome 18% of China’s coal-fired power plants “can be retired first and rapidly” to help the country achieve its goals of carbon neutrality by 2060, according to a newlypublished study. The study, titled A Pant-by-Plant Strategy for High-Ambition Coal Power Phaseout in China, found that around 186 out of the 1,037 active coal plants are performing poorly and are “particularly suitable” for fast-track retirement from a technical, economic, and environmental perspective. Other existing plants could reach a minimum lifetime of 20 or 30 years with gradually reduced operational capacity once the shutdown happens. It will see China phase out coal entirely by 2045 under the 1.5-degree (Celsius) temperature goal, and 2055 under the 2C pathway. The study, however, only explores these outcomes under the assumption that China stops building new coal plants altogether. At the moment, China has around 247GW of coal power projects under development. “China’s decarbonisation pathways suggest that any addition of new coal plants is not in line with the Paris climate goals,” the authors explain. The goal of carbon neutrality is currently far from sight amidst
China’s decarbonisation pathways suggest that any addition of new coal plants is not in line with the Paris climate goals
increasing demand for electricity, traditional economic returns of investing in coal power, and lack of relevant policy. The study was led by the University of Maryland Centre for Global Sustainability China programme co-director Ryna Yiyun Cui. It was recently published in open-access journal Nature Communications. Meanwhile, Chinese banks are reportedly exiting the coal business. A report by Project Finance International (PFI) said that the number of coal-fired power plants that still have project finance debt is greatly diminished today, whereas 15 years ago they were all financed with non-recourse debt. PFI said borrowers will need to rely heavily on their relationship banks, as most banks have introduced policies to phase out coal power exposure with Chinese banks getting a lot harder to ask to lend “It’s not any easier getting Chinese banks to lend than other lenders. Maybe six to 12 months ago it was, but not now. The bigger Chinese state-owned entities are a lot more independent than they were even 12 months ago. They are genuinely trying to exit coal. Singaporean banks are exiting as well,” PFI said in its report. With China phasing out coal, they would soon be looking at new sources of power to fill the gap it will leave behind. Recently, the country said that it is aiming to increase solar and wind power generation to 16.5% by 2025. In its draft plan, the National Energy Administration outlined its ambition to raise solar and wind power generation by 11% this year from 9.7% in 2020. It will then raise its power generation in the subsequent years until it reaches its goal by 2025.
The country plans to increase solar and wind power generation to 16.5% by 2025.
