Japan's Tohoku Electric to impose fuel restrictions at Joetsu from Feb 15

Japan's Tohoku Electric will impose fuel restrictions on the 572-MW No. 1 gas-fired unit at its Joetsu thermal power plant in the northwest Feb. 15 due to weather and oceanic phenomena, the company said in a filing to the Hatsuden Joho Kokai System.

Tohoku Electric will also impose fuel restrictions on the No. 1 Joetsu gas-fired unit from 10 am local time (0100 GMT) on Feb. 16 for the day, with fuel restrictions also scheduled for the same period on Feb. 22 and Feb. 23, the Sendai-based power utility said in the filing.

The development follows JERA imposing 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 starting Feb. 12.

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, the company said in a filing 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 0150 GMT on Feb. 14, 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 filing.

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, as per the filing.

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.

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.

CYCLONE DOWNGRADE

Meanwhile, Australia's cyclone conditions appear to be easing after Tropical Cyclone Zelia was downgraded to Category 4 after crossing the Pilbara coast near Port Hedland, although an emergency warning remains in effect.

"Following the downgrade in Western Australian Department of Fire and Emergency Services advice for Karratha and the forecast track of the cyclone, Woodside-operated assets are returning to normal operations," a company spokesperson said in a statement Feb. 14. "We will update the market in accordance with our continuous disclosure obligations if required," the spokesperson added.

Pilbara Ports has conducted inspections of navigation aids, channels and berths, confirming that safe operations can resume, the port authority said in a statement.

"Pilbara Ports is liaising with terminal and vessel operators and stakeholders to plan the resumption of shipping," it said, adding that this was the final update on the cyclone in relation to the ports of Dampier and Varanus Island.