Japan

King coal rules in Japan as power utilities in thrall to low-cost fuel

“As a percentage of Japan’s generation units, Japan’s gas-fired power capacity is nearly double that of coal. But utilities rely more on coal as a so-called baseload source, providing a continuous supply of electricity, while gas units are typically ramped up quickly to meet surges in demand… Coal power is expected to provide 285.7 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity in the year through March 2020, an increase of 3.3% over the previous twelve months, according to supply plans submitted by utilities and generators to the government and published by Japan’s power grid monitor.”

Source: Reuters Web | PDF

Why Japan finds coal hard to quit

Regardless of its participation in the Paris climate accord, Japan stands firm on challenges to new coal plants and the US should too. As stated in the article, Japan does so because coal power is “cheap and more economical with scale”. Notice there is no claim made that wind and solar is cheaper — as US utilities closing in coal dishonestly claim to advance their no coal agenda.

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