Japan Utility Will Bring 2.34-GW Gas-Fired Plant Online Ahead of Schedule

Japan's largest utility said it will start the first of three units at a new natural gas-fired power plant near Tokyo in an effort to provide more electricity during the peak summer demand season. JERA on July 26 said the 780-MW Unit 1 at the Goi site in Chiba will enter service August 1. The Goi plant is a $1.3 billion, three-unit, 2.34-GW facility that replaces a six-unit, 1.886-GW power plant that was retired in 2018. The Goi plant will use imported liquefied natural gas. Unit 1 is being started about a month ahead of its original schedule. Japan has been impacted by extreme heat over the past few weeks, with temperatures well above 100F. The country's power supply has been strained due to the heat, and also due to the retirements of many older thermal plants in recent years. Most of the country's nuclear power plant remains offline after the Fukushima disaster in 2011. The Goi station is jointly owned by JERA, Eneos Holdings, and Kyushu Electric Power. JERA is co-owned by Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power. The power plant uses GE gas turbines and Toshiba steam turbines. Officials said the pairing enables the facility to operate at 64% generation efficiency, with emissions of carbon dioxide reduced by 16% compared to the old units at Goi. "Launching new units is significant because they provide safe and stable electricity while contributing to the reduction of CO2 emissions," said Masataka Sato, president of GOI United Generation, the station's operator, in a meeting with media. Sato said the GE turbines at the site are capable of co-firing hydrogen, although there is no plan in place to do that. —Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).