Sub-$5 LNG Beats Japanese Coal: Jera

When delivered at below $5/mn Btu, LNG can compete with coal-fired power generation in Japan, according to Hiroki Sato, managing executive officer of Jera.

The restart of nine nuclear reactors in Japan represented roughly 10mn metric tons of LNG, but Japanese LNG import volumes have been flat this year rather than substantially lower, he said. That was because nuclear generation was displacing oil use in power generation rather than gas. A further seven nuclear units have been approved for restart by central government, but it is still a struggle to gain the necessary local authority permits and pubic support, he said.

Sato was speaking December 4 at the CWC World LNG Summit in Rome. Jera is the gas and coal trading and thermal power generation joint venture set up by Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power.