Early Japanese nuclear restarts to trim fuel demand

The scheduled return of two Japanese nuclear reactors a month earlier than previously planned has eased the winter demand outlook for coal and gas.

Japanese utility Kyushu plans to resume generation at its 890MW Sendai 1 and 2 reactors on 26 November and 26 December, respectively, which would be exactly one month sooner than previously scheduled, the company said today.

This will ease the southern region's reliance on coal and gas compared with previous expectations. The 890MW increase in availability for December and January is the equivalent of 226,000 t/month less NAR 6,000 kcal/kg coal burn at 42pc efficiency, or 73,000 t/month less LNG consumption at 60pc efficiency.

Coal and gas accounted for 30pc (2.1GW) and 11pc (760MW) shares of Kyushu's winter power generation in 2019-20, according to government data, which suggests coal may be hit hardest by the earlier restarts.

The utility consumed 3.8mn t of coal and 510,000t of LNG in the fourth quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020, according to company figures.

By Jake Horslen