JERA imposes fuel restrictions at Joetsu, affecting 1.785 GW of gas-fired capacity

Japan's largest power generation company, JERA, has imposed fuel restrictions at combined-cycle gas-fired units, affecting a total capacity of 1.785 GW at the Joetsu thermal power plant in northwest Japan from Feb. 12, the company said in filings to the Hatsuden Joho Kokai System.

JERA's fuel restrictions-led capacity outage was imposed at the No. 1-1 unit, No. 2-1 unit and No. 2-2 Joetsu gas-fired units, each with a 595 MW capacity, from as early as 1 am local time (1600 GMT) on Feb. 12 due to weather and oceanic phenomena, the company said in filings to the HJKS.

The Diamond Gas Orchid, laden with a US Freeport LNG cargo and with an estimated time of arrival at Joetsu on Feb. 10, is currently sailing toward the port in Niigata Prefecture from offshore northwest of Joetsu as of around 0445 GMT on Feb. 13, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea.

The Joetsu fuel restrictions, however, are slated to last periodically until Feb. 23, with the No. 1-1 unit mostly shut after 9:30 pm local time for the day, the No. 2-1 unit mostly shut after 12:10 pm and the No. 2-2 unit mostly shut after 11:10 pm, according to JERA's HJKS filings.

The No. 1-1, No. 2-1 and No. 2-2 Joetsu units will be shut for the weekend until Feb. 23, following their scheduled shutdown times on Feb. 21 at 9:30 pm, 12:10 pm and 11:10 pm, respectively, according to the HJKS filings.

JERA's latest fuel restrictions come after it imposed fuel restrictions last summer and in March, when nearly 7 GW of gas-fired power generation capacity in Tokyo Bay was affected over March 27-29, as Japan's LNG inventory fell to its lowest level since January 2021.

Japan's LNG stocks held by major power utilities retreated 10.8% week over week to 2.15 million mt on Feb. 9, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Feb. 12, as the country was hit by cold spells and snowstorms.

Tropical Cyclone Zelia

The Joetsu LNG terminal in Niigata regularly imports LNG from Australia's Wheatstone and Gorgon LNG terminals, both of which are currently locking down ahead of Tropical Cyclone Zelia, along with other LNG export terminals on the Pilbara coast, including North West Shelf LNG and Pluto LNG.

Pilbara Ports will close the ports of Dampier and Varanus Island at 6:00 pm local time on Feb. 13, the port authority said in a statement, a day after advising all ships to leave port and move offshore.

It said the Bureau of Meteorology has advised that Tropical Cyclone Zelia is forecast to move slowly west before turning south toward the coast overnight into Feb. 14, between Karratha and Port Hedland.

Tropical Cyclone Zelia has now been classified as Category 5, the highest level of severity in Australia, and at least 12 LNG carriers were seen moving offshore and circling due to delays in loading LNG from the terminals.

Market sources in Asia said Feb. 12 that they expect delays in LNG shipments from Western Australia, with affected importers likely seeking replacement cargoes at short notice in a relatively tight market.

The four LNG terminals -- Wheatstone, Gorgon, Pluto and North West Shelf -- exported around 45 million mt/year of LNG in 2024, with about 45% shipped to Japan and the remainder to China, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore, according to S&P Global Energy shipping data.