Japan's JERA halts Sodegaura Thermal Power Station Unit 3 for inspection

Japan's JERA halted Sodegaura Thermal Power Station Unit 3's gas-fired thermal power plant on Jan. 27.

Sodegaura's Unit 3, which has an output capacity of 1 GW, was halted at 7:48 am on Jan. 27 to inspect a steam turbine, after some smoke was detected at approximately 5 am on Jan. 27, according to JERA.

"Other power stations are operating, so there is no impact for power generation and supply," the spokesperson said, adding that the cause of the smoke was not known.

Estimated day of Unit 3 resuming operations was also undetermined, the spokesperson said.

LNG market participants continuously monitor downstream demand in Japan as multiple power utilities have recently procured spot LNG cargoes following a cold front hitting Japan since the week of Jan. 3.

On Jan. 26, S&P Global Platts reported Japanese utilities' LNG inventory fell 12% on the week to 1.76 million mt, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's announcement on Jan. 26.

The Platts JKM for March was assessed at $28.272/MMBtu on Jan. 27, compared to $18.945/MMBtu on Jan. 20.

On Jan. 27, Japan Electric Power eXchange marked the day-ahead 24 hours at Yen 21.19/kwh for Jan. 28, while the day-ahead peak time (1 pm-4 pm Japan time) was recorded Yen 22.16/kwh.

This compared lower than the day-ahead 24 hours Yen 21.68/kwh for Jan. 26, and the day-ahead peak time of Yen 22.47/kwh for Jan. 26.

Sodegaura power station has four units, with Unit 1 having a capacity of 600 MW and Units 2-4 having output capacity of 1 GW each.

Sodegaura's Unit 1 was expected to start on Jan. 27 -- earlier than the originally planned Feb. 13 start date -- after going offline on Jan. 13 in response to a rise in sea water temperatures, JERA's filing to the HJKS on Jan. 27 showed.