Japan to cut LNG, coal in power sector as it bets on renewables

Tokio, July 23 - Neftegaz.RU. Japan, like many other developed nations, aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, or as Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) said last month «a carbon neutral society by 2050».

Under the draft new policy, Japan will target to have renewable energy sources make up between 36% and 38% of the country's power generation by the end of this decade.
The previous target was to have renewable energy generate between 22% and 24% of Japan's electricity mix by 2030.

The new plan hasn't changed the target for nuclear power generation, which was left at 20-22% of electricity generation.
But the share of coal is now targeted to drop to 19% by 2030, from 26% now, while the share of LNG is planned to decline to 41% from 56%.

The world's top LNG importer aiming to reduce the use of the super-chilled fuel for power generation is likely to rattle the market.

According to estimates from Lloyd's List Intelligence, Japan was the single largest importer of LNG in the world in the 1^st half of 2021, holding a 20.49% share of all LNG imports globally:

• To compare, all 27 members of the EU + the UK accounted for 20.94% of global LNG imports

The fastest-growing market for LNG, China - which is expected to soon surpass Japan as the largest LNG importer - accounted for 18.22% of LNG imports in the 1^st half this year.

Reduced future use of coal and LNG in Japan is set to create disturbances in the Asian markets of those fossil fuels, especially for Australia, which supplies ₂/³ of Japan's thermal coal and is Japan's top LNG supplier, too, Reuters notes.


Author: Tsvetana Paraskova