Japan's LNG uses rises 5% in fiscal 2012-13

Japan's 10 major power utilities consumed a record 55.8 million metric tons of LNG.

This compares to the previous high of 52.89 million mt in the preceding fiscal year, said the Federation of Electric Power Companies. Overall, power generation by Japan's 10 major utilities slid 1.5% year-on-year to 923,612 GWh in the fiscal year ended March 31.

Japanese utilities used 13.46 million kiloliters, up 16% from a year ago, and 16.08 million kl of fuel oil, up 36% in the year ended March 31. They also consumed 50.24 million mt of coal in 2012-13, up 2% from a year earlier.

Since the catastrophic March 11, 2011 earthquake in Fukushima, Japan has had to use more LNG, crude oil and fuel oil for power generation.

Only two of Japan's 50 reactors are in operation, representing 2.32 GW out of a total nuclear capacity of 46.2 GW. This accounts for 20% of Japan's total installed power generation capacity of 225.67 GW.

During the fiscal year, power companies generated 666,77 GWh of electricity from thermal power plants, up 9.2% year on year. Nuclear power generation dropped 84.2% year-on-year to 159,394 GWh.

Japan's nuclear power utilization came to 3.9% in the fiscal year ended March 31, down 23.7% in the previous fiscal year. It was the lowest nuclear utilization rate since Japan started commercial nuclear power generations in 1966.