Companies

Jera to Invest 5 Trillion Yen for Decarbonization

REUTERS/Issei Kato
The logo of JERA Co., Inc., the world’s biggest LNG buyer, is displayed at the company office in Tokyo, Japan July 14, 2017.

Jiji Press

17:16 JST, May 18, 2024

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Japanese power generation company Jera Co. will invest about ¥5 trillion for decarbonization, partly to replace fuels for thermal power plants with ammonia and hydrogen.

The investment plan is included in the company’s growth strategy to fiscal 2035, which was announced Thursday.

Ammonia and hydrogen are viewed as promising next-generation fuels as they do not emit carbon dioxide when burned.

In the long-term strategy, Jera, equally owned by the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. group and Chubu Electric Power Co., set a target of handling 7 million tons of ammonia.

Other investment areas are thermal power generation using liquefied natural gas and power generation from renewable energy sources.

Jera will keep its annual transaction volume of LNG above 35 million tons. Since LNG emits less carbon dioxide than other fossil fuels, Jera plans to expand the use of it for power generation in Asia, where many countries rely heavily on coal-fired power generation.

At a press conference Thursday, Jera President Hisahide Okuda explained the aim of achieving decarbonization, stable energy supplies and affordability at the same time by combining multiple options.