Japan sets $4 billion coal investment target for developing nations

• 9 years ago (2014-07-24)
• Junior Isles

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The Japanese government has reiterated its support for assisting development of efficient coal-fired power in developing nations, and has set an investment target of $4 billion a year for supporting these projects.

Japan stated that the updated policy is a response to the reality that funding from richer countries is needed to help emerging nations adopt cleaner coal technologies to reduce their reliance on dirty, high-emission coal generation

Japan’s position stands in opposition to US and EU policy which prefer funding of gas-fired and renewable generation in developing countries to help cut future carbon emissions.

“Encouraging the adoption of the most efficient coal technology as possible is a realistic way to cut CO2,” the Japanese policy statement argued.

Japan is currently the largest global financer for overseas coal projects, followed by the US and Germany in second and third place.

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation recently announced a $202 million credit line funding the purchase of Japanese coal-fired power equipment for a project in Vietnam and is part of a bank consortium funding a $1.1 billion coal power project in Chile.

In recent years Japan has reoriented its power industry away from nuclear energy, in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, and towards coal and gas generation.

In the three years since the Fukushima accident, Japan's coal imports have risen 6 per cent and its spending on coal risen 17 per cent to nearly $12 billion a year, according to government sources.

Japan is also the biggest consumer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and is expected to reach a record-breaking natural gas consumption of 91.1 million metric tons in 2014-15 fiscal year.