Companies

TEPCO Plans to Make Data Centers New Core Business by Fy27; Company Will Utilize Energy-Saving Technology

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:04 JST, July 1, 2025

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. plans to formally enter the data center business as early as fiscal 2027, designating the venture as a new core business under its ongoing reconstruction plan, it has been learned.

With the rapid expansion of data center demand driven by the proliferation of artificial intelligence, TEPCO, facing delays in the restart of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station in Niigata Prefecture, plans to develop this new business as its main source of revenue.

Previously, its subsidiaries had been spearheading data center-related businesses, including the development of power transmission and distribution networks. TEPCO will now take the lead.

Data centers, as dedicated facilities for storing and processing large volumes of data for businesses and organizations, consume large amounts of electricity.

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry is considering mandating energy efficiency for newly established data centers and plans to revise relevant ordinances and regulations as early as fiscal 2025.

Leveraging its unique energy-saving technology, which efficiently reuses waste heat, TEPCO aims to cut power consumption at data centers for air conditioning and other usages by 75% compared to conventional levels.

The company also intends to use the technology to roll out small to midsize data centers. It plans on investing about ¥200 million to open a showroom in Yokohama by around fiscal 2026 to market its services to domestic and international telecom and information technology firms, as well as government entities.

The Organization for Cross-regional Coordination of Transmission Operators, a government-approved institution, anticipates a sharp increase in data center power demand, reaching 6.16 million kilowatts by fiscal year 2034. This figure is equivalent to the output of six nuclear power plants and about 13 times the demand in fiscal 2025.

TEPCO is said to be anticipating that it will be easier to secure power for data centers when its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station restarts operations in the future.