Japan Thermal Power Plant Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Japan thermal power plant market is expected to rise at a CAGR of more than 1.5% during the forecast period of 2020-2025. Factors such as the several numbers of nuclear power reactors in the country are likely to drive the Japan thermal power plant market. However, the increasing share of renewable energy in the total energy generation is expected to restrain the Japan thermal power plant market.

Key Highlights

• The gas-fired power plant, due to its being efficient and more environmentally friendly than coal, is expected to be the largest segment and is likely to dominate the Japan thermal power plant market during the forecast period.
• New and efficient technologies like supercritical and ultra-supercritical coal power plants, which reduce the amount of pollution (per KW), are expected to replace the aging power plants and will likely create several opportunities for the Japan thermal power plant market in the future.
• The increasing projects of thermal power plants are expected to drive the Japan thermal power plant market.

Key Market Trends

Gas Power Plants to Dominate the Market

• Natural gas-fired power plants generate energy by burning natural gas. The country is the largest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and uses a major portion of the LNG to produce electricity. In 2019, the country imported 105.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of the total imported LNG in the world, which is approximately 21.74% of the LNG imported.
• After 2011 tsunamis, Japan has to close down its most of nuclear power plants, which made Japan use natural gas as a significant source of energy generation to fill the void caused by the dismissal of nuclear power. In the past decade, natural gas emerged as a major source of energy in the country.
• In 2019, the total electricity produced by burning natural gas in Japan was 362.4 terawatt-hours (TWh), contributing to 34.97% of the total energy generated in the country, followed by cola energy. The significant share of natural gas in energy production depicts natural gas's dominance over other thermal energy sources.
• Moreover, the government of Japan in Jut 2020 announced that it would shut down about a hundred inefficient coal-fired power plants by 2030, which is likely to drive the natural gas segment that is more environmentally friendly than coal.
• Hence, owing to the above points, the gas segment is likely going to dominate the Japan thermal power plant market during the forecast period.

Increasing Thermal Power Plants Expected to Drive the Market

• For the last decade, Japan was mostly dependent on nuclear power, but after the incident of 2011, nuclear power in the country drastically reduced. The event made the country review and shut down most nuclear reactors and focuses more on other forms of thermal energy such as coal and natural gas.
• Japan, in 2019 announced 22 coal-burning projects at 17 different sites. These projects are expected to produce electricity using coal. Such numbers of projects in the country related to coal-fired power plants are expected to drive the thermal power plant market during the forecast period.
• In 2019, the nuclear energy generated in Japan was 65.6 Terawatt-Hours (TWh), higher than the nuclear energy production of 2018, 49.1 TWh. After the 2011 tsunami in the country, all the nuclear reactors were put under the reviewing process. In 2015, the two reactors were started, and after which seven more were restarted, while 18 are in the process of getting started. As of 2020, Japan has 33 operable nuclear reactors, two under construction, and 27 shut down. The country plans to increase its nuclear energy share in the total energy up to at least 20% by 2030.
• Hence, owing to the above points, increasing thermal power plants are expected to drive the Japan thermal power plant market during the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

The Japan thermal power plant market is moderately fragmented. Some of the key players in this market includeTokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc., Toshiba Corp, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, LTD., Hitachi, Ltd., and Japan Atomic Power Company.

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