Osaka Gas Co. may pull out of a thermal power project planned with Marubeni Corp. amid signs of nuclear restarts and increasing calls to reduce carbon dioxide from power generation.
The Osaka-based company is considering giving up on its participation in the project in Ibaraki Prefecture, Takahiro Yamane, a spokesman for Osaka Gas, said by phone Monday. He said no decision has been made and could not confirm project details.
The Nikkei Shimbun newspaper reported without attribution on Sunday that Osaka Gas plans to withdraw from the ¥30 billion project, which will use coal as fuel and is expected to start running by March 2019. Marubeni will examine the feasibility of the project while seeking a new partner, the paper reported.
Marubeni officials were not immediately available for comment.
Japan's nuclear reactors were gradually taken offline in the years since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, with the last of the country's 43 operable commercial reactors closed in September 2013 for safety checks. Power producers turned to coal and gas as power sources to make up for the lost or suspended nuclear capacity.
Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s two reactors came back online earlier this year. Three other reactors have met safety standards to restart and 20 more units are seeking clearance, according to the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum.
Reactors at Japanese nuclear power plants are expected to resume operations faster than originally anticipated, with three restarting in the first half of 2016, London-based consultant Energy Aspects said in a report dated Dec. 17.
