Japan's Power Market News 2022/W29

Japan softens resistance to nuclear restarts.

Kansai Electric Power's Ohi nuclear power plant in Ohi, Fukui prefecture. | Reuters/Kyodo)

On July 17th, Kansai Electric restarted its Ohi 4 nuclear power plant, seven days after the restart of Kyushu Electric’s Genkai NPP 4. This brings the total number of nuclear reactors online to six. Shulman Advisory regularly publishes the operational status of nuclear reactors in Japan here.

On July 14th, prime minister Kishida announced that the government was aiming to have nine nuclear reactors online in time for winter peak power demand. This announcement should not be seen as the government deciding the restart schedule of nuclear plants, which is the job of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, but rather as a confirmation of what the NRA had already approved. Kansai Electric has three additional units approved for a restart, and Kyushu Electric has one.?

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday he had asked the industry minister to have up to nine nuclear reactors operational this winter. | TOKYO, July 14 (Reuters)

Public and government opinion toward nuclear appears to be warming for a variety of reasons. These include the current tight power market and the threat of blackouts, and forecasts of even tighter capacity margins for this winter - coupled with ambitious decarbonization goals and rising fuel import costs/supply security questions. On July 11th, the climate change editor of the Nikkei wrote a piece in which he urged the government to take measures to persuade communities to approve nuclear restarts. The Tokyo district court’s decision to find five ex-TEPCO executives accountable for the Fukushima disaster and fine them ￥13 trillion could also help restore trust in the public’s eyes.?

For the longer term, Nikkei reported on July 18th that METI is considering introducing a guaranteed income program for new nuclear generation. This guaranteed revenue would help reduce the cost of financing new assets, one of the major cost components of new nuclear, as well as ensure that the asset revenue is high enough to keep safety maintenance at a compliant level.?

Sources: Prime minister Kishida’s announcement, Opinion on energy policies (Nikkei July 11th), METI considers guaranteed revenue for nuclear plants (Nikkei July 18th)

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