Tokyo Electric Power Co. will construct two cutting-edge coal-fired power stations in Fukushima Prefecture, home to the wrecked No. 1 nuclear plant, in conjunction with three Mitsubishi group firms, sources said Saturday.
The two facilities, with an output of 500,000 kw each, will be built in the city of Iwaki and the town of Hirono. Their combined capacity will be equivalent to that of one nuclear reactor, and they are projected to start operations around 2020, the sources said.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. will help build the two plants. Total investment is estimated at around ¥300 billion, with Tepco covering less than 10 percent of that sum, according to the sources.
The new power plants will utilize the highly efficient integrated gasification combined cycle, which discharges less atmospheric pollutants and may attract government subsidies. The plan will be presented in Tepco's reconstruction program.
Tepco expects the plan to generate thousands of jobs in disaster-hit Fukushima through the construction and maintenance of the two facilities.