Nuclear Reactor Restarts in Japan Displacing LNG Imports in 2019

Nuclear Power Industry

Johnson and Zaretskaya, of EIA (2019) report that in 2018, Japan restarted five nuclear reactors that were shut down after the 2011 Fukushima accident. As those reactors return to full operation, the resulting increase in nuclear generation is likely to displace generation from fossil sources, in particular natural gas. Because Japan imports all of its natural gas in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG), increased nuclear power production is likely to reduce Japanese imports of LNG in the electric power sector by as much as 10% in 2019.

Japan now has nine operating nuclear units with a total electricity generation capacity of 8.7 gigawatts. Electricity generation produced by natural gas-fired plants in Japan has been declining annually from its peak in 2014 and is likely to decline further in 2019, while generation from nuclear units will likely increase. In response to the 2011 Fukushima accident, Japan suspended operations at all nuclear reactors for mandatory safety inspections and upgrades, leaving the country with no nuclear generation from September 2013 to August 2015. Existing coal-fired power plants were already operating near full load; therefore, utilities had to import large volumes of LNG to meet electricity demand.

As the five nuclear reactors were gradually restarted in 2018, they began to offset natural gas-fired generation, and as a result, LNG imports decreased as the reactors reached full operation. In 2019, their first full year of operation, EIA estimates that the restarted nuclear reactors will further displace Japan’s LNG imports by about 5 million metric tons per year (MMmt/y), or 0.7 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of LNG. This amount is equivalent to 10% of Japan's power sector natural gas consumption and 6% of Japan’s LNG imports in 2018.

Consumption of crude oil and petroleum products by power plants also increased between 2011 and 2013, with utilities spending about $30 billion each year for additional fossil fuel imports in the three years following the Fukushima accident. Generation from crude oil and petroleum products returned to pre-Fukushima levels by 2014 mainly as a result of relatively high crude oil prices, and it has since declined further.

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Original working URL: https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=38533