Tokyo Gas Co. indicated Friday it intends to buy two aging thermal power plants from Tokyo Electric Power Co., which is struggling with a huge financial burden stemming from the triple-meltdown crisis at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear complex.
"As occasion demands, we are willing to buy" the Sodegaura thermal plant in Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture, and the Minami-Yokohama plant in Yokohama, senior Tokyo Gas executive officer Takashi Uchida said at a press conference.
Tokyo Electric and the government-backed Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund are considering selling the utility's aging thermal power plants or soliciting capital contributions from gas companies and other concerns to refurbish the plants.
To replace antiquated thermal power plant equipment with the latest technology would probably cost more than ¥100 billion.
The Sodegaura and Yokohama plants, which both use liquefied natural gas, began operating in 1974 and 1970, respectively.
Tokyo Gas currently supplies natural gas to the thermal power plants from its adjacent facilities.