By Nanami Oki

July 4, 2020 - About half of Japan's coal-fired capacity could be brought off line, as the country plans to start discussing the possibility of scrapping inefficient coal-fired power generation units to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. The ministry of economy, trade and industry (Meti) will form a committee this month but did not disclose details.

Meti will discuss potentially phasing out coal-fired power units that are not equipped with the latest clean coal technologies, such as integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC) and ultra super critical (USC) technologies, over the next 10 years, Meti minister Hiroshi Kajiyama said today. Meti had urged power producers to phase out such inefficient coal-fired power capacity in 2018.

Japan currently has combined capacity of 48.4GW operating coal-fired power generation units, according to the latest data from Meti. Japan is operating around 23.1GW in total of USC and IGCC coal-fired power units, according to data by environmental group Kiko Network and think-tank Renewable Energy Institute.

Japan may scrap or mothball 25.3GW inefficient coal-fired units, or about half of the existing coal-fired capacity.

Japan will continue to expand renewable power capacity and resume operation of nuclear power plants, to achieve stable power supply while reducing coal-fired capacity, said Kajiyama. But he also considers coal-fired power as the country's base load power supply source and that the the electricity infrastructure division of Meti will continue to allow the operation of existing efficient units and development of new units. There is capacity of 8.9GW planned for new start-ups.

Japan aims to cover 56pc of its total power requirements with thermal power by 2030. This includes 27pc of LNG, 26pc coal, and 3pc fuel oil. The 2030 target remains on track despite today's decision, Kajiyama said. The country aims to decarbonise electricity generation by 2050. Japan covered 83pc of demand with thermal power, 40pc with LNG, 33pc with coal and 9pc fuel oil in 2016.

Japan consumed 108.5mn t of coal for power generation from April 2019 to March 2020, down by 1.8pc from a year earlier, according to the latest data by Meti.