Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc. and JFE Steel, a major steel company, had planned to jointly build a natural gas-fueled thermal power plant in Chiba City, but officially announced that it would cancel it because it was not expected to be sufficiently profitable.
According to the announcement, China Electric Power and JFE Steel have canceled plans to build a natural gas-fueled thermal power plant on the premises of a steel mill in Chuo-ku, Chiba City, and jointly established it for the construction of the power plant. The company also decided to dissolve.
The power plant was originally planned to be fueled by coal.
However, four years ago, then Minister of the Environment Yamamoto submitted a written opinion to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, saying that it could hinder the achievement of greenhouse gas reduction targets, and urged measures including a review of the plan. It was being considered to use gas as fuel.
Regarding the reason for the cancellation, the two companies said that while natural gas has a higher procurement cost than coal, it is not expected that electricity can be sold at a price commensurate with the cost, and it is not expected to be sufficiently profitable.