Regional gas and electric heavyweights Kepco and Osaka Gas slug it out in Kansai region battleground
Retail power and gas heavyweights Kansai Electric Power, or Kepco, and Osaka Gas are locked in a struggle for dominance in the Kansai region — which includes Osaka, the nation's second-biggest city, and boasts an economy nearly the size of South Korea's. After the 2011 ...
Incoming Tepco chief vows decision on whether to scrap Fukushima No. 2
The incoming president of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. has expressed eagerness to accelerate moves for tie-ups with other companies in an effort to revive its business following the meltdowns at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear complex in 2011. "Capital strength is important to ...
Cybersecurity firms warn of easily modified malware that could cause power outages
Two cybersecurity firms have uncovered malicious software that they believe caused a December 2016 Ukraine power outage, they said on Monday, warning that the malware could be easily modified to harm critical infrastructure operations around the globe. ESET, a Slovakian anti-virus software maker, and Dragos ...
Japan's farmers turn to biogas tech to turn waste into watts, profits
Some Japanese farmers have begun looking to biogas technology to allow them to turn their properties into power plants, giving them a way to transform animal and other waste into profits. Biogas is a combustible substance consisting mainly of methane that can be produced through ...
60% of new utilities object to helping pay Fukushima compensation
A survey finds over 60 percent of the major companies entering the electric power industry object to a plan to have them shoulder some compensation costs related to the Fukushima disaster.
Tepco eyes reorganization to free up funds for disaster aftermath
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. is aiming to integrate its nuclear and power transmission and distribution businesses with other utilities to free up funds to use in dealing with the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster. According to Tepco's revised business turnaround plan announced Wednesday, ...
New utilities may have to chip in for Fukushima compensation costs
The industry ministry is planning to demand that new power industry entrants shoulder a portion of the compensation payments stemming from the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and to do the same for any future nuclear accidents, sources said Wednesday. The Ministry ...
Renewables credited with 28 million-ton drop in Japan utilities' carbon emissions in 2015
An association of Japanese electric power companies said Monday that carbon dioxide emissions by its members declined in fiscal 2015 to around 441 million tons, partly due to greater use of renewable energy. The preliminary figure represents a fall of 28 million tons from the ...
Tokyo Electric Power Co. is seeking to expand operations abroad to diversify amid a power market shake-up at home. Japan's biggest utility faces a fully liberalized power market from April and the prospect of new entrants encroaching on its base of about 29 million customers. ...
Japan power use drops to 17-year-low amid slower economic growth
Power usage in Japan dropped last year to the lowest level since 1998 as households and businesses conserved electricity amid a stagnant economy and shrinking population. The country consumed 806.03 terawatt-hours of electricity from Japan's 10 regional power utilities, down 2.7 percent from 2014, according ...
Companies vie for share of ¥8 trillion retail electricity market
Spend a few minutes to fill in a single-page form from a government website, and mail it in — that is all you need to register as a power producer in Japan as it opens its ¥8.1 trillion ($67 billion) retail electricity market. More than ...
Japan's reform of its energy market is proving a boon to investors in the company at the center of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant disaster. Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s shares have surged 59 percent in the six months through Tuesday's close, making it the ...
