Japan's JERA restarts 420 MW No. 7-2 gas-fired unit at Kashima thermal power plant after glitch

Japan's JERA was restarting Oct. 19 the 420 MW No. 7-2 gas-fired unit at its Kashima thermal power plant on the east coast after an unplanned shutdown earlier in the day as a result of a glitch, the company said in an updated filing to the Hatsuden Joho Kokai System.

The restart comes after JERA had identified earlier in the day the glitch at an electricity-related facility that had resulted in the shutdown of the No. 7-2 gas-fired unit at 04:39 am local time (1939 GMT, Oct. 18).

JERA also shut the 167 MW No. 1-3 gas-fired unit at its Futtsu thermal power plant at 10:50 pm Oct. 18 as a result of a glitch at a related gas-turbine facility, the company said in a separate filing to the HJKS.

In its updated filing, JERA said it was restarting the 167 MW No. 1-3 Futtsu gas-fired unit Oct. 20, representing a delay from the Oct. 19 restart reported earlier in the day.

In a separate filing to the HJKS Oct. 18, JERA said it planned to restart the 700 MW No. 2 coal-fired unit at the Hekinan thermal power plant in central Japan Oct. 22 after maintenance at a turbine-related facility that had resulted in the shutdown of the unit on Oct. 7.

These shutdowns happened as Japan enters the lower demand shoulder months for power generation, resulting in a drop in LNG use for power generation in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, Japan's LNG stocks held by major power utilities jumped almost 16% to 2.16 million mt Oct. 15, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Oct. 18, above the 2 million mt mark for the first time in seven weeks.