Hokkaido Electric eyes LNG-fired power plant

Hokkaido Electric Power Co is considering building its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plant to meet growing demand for electricity, a spokesman said on Thursday.

The utility is considering numerous ways of generating power, but it is most seriously considering LNG, the spokesman said.

The Nikkan Kogyo daily reported on Thursday that Hokkaido Electric was considering building an LNG-powered generator with a capacity of 1 million kilowatts, at an estimated cost of 200 billion yen ($1.9 billion).

A power generator of that size would be about the size of a nuclear power plant.

In its latest annual report, Hokkaido Electric said it plans by 2017 to reduce its ratio of coal-generated output to 35 percent of the total from the current 40 percent, and its oil-generated output to 8 percent from 15 percent.

At the same time, it plans to increase its nuclear-generated output to 41 percent of the total from 27 percent.

Electricity generated by LNG and nuclear energy emits less carbon dioxide (CO2) than electricity generated by coal and oil.

Japanese utilities are the country's largest industrial CO2 emitters and are looking to cut emissions to help Japan meet its Kyoto Protocol reduction targets.

(Source: Reuters)