Japan's last coal plant project scrapped amid efforts to go green

Kanden Energy Solution Co. is abandoning plans to two coal-plant units with a combined capacity of 1.3 gigawatts at Akita Port due to the unfeasibility to operate coal plants amid the global push to go green.

The decision ends any new coal power plant construction in Japan, other than those that have already started.

Kanden Energy Solution, a subsidiary of Kansai Electric Power Co., also attributed the decision to the Japanese government’s promotion of decarbonization and the withdrawal of investments and loans for new coal power plants.

The power plant, a joint project of Kanden Energy Solution and a Marubeni Corp. subsidiary, was to start operating in 2024.

Instead, Kanden Energy Solution will build other types of power plants, including biomass power plants.

While the government aims to reduce the number of low-efficiency plants that emit the most amounts of CO2, it would still proceed with the construction and operation of efficient coal-fired thermal plants.

Kanden Energy Solution had planned use to higher efficiency ultra-supercritical technology, permitted under the current regulations, in building the coal plant.

Japan has 150 coal-fired power generation units that generated 32 percent of its total power generation for fiscal 2019. There were plans to build or rebuild 17 units as of June.