Tokyo Electric Power to Cut Oil Purchases, Turn to Coal

Bloomberg reported that Japan’s biggest electrical utility, Tokyo Electric Power Co, is turning to coal plants increasingly for power, and plans to reduce more costly oil purchases by up to a third.

As quoted in the market report:

By establishing new coal-powered plants, thermal power generation costs can be reduced, first by cutting the use of oil-burning units,” said Reiji Ogino, an analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. “Japanese government requests to power companies that they lower the rates they charge will encourage movement to coal-fired plants, since coal is a relatively cheap energy source.

To view the whole Bloomberg report, click here.