Japan to restart Tomato-Atsuma coal power unit in Aug

Japanese utility Hokkaido Electric Power plans to restart its 700MW Tomato-Atsuma No.4 coal-fired unit in August, following a five-month shutdown because of a pipeline issue.

Hokkaido Electric Power was forced to halt the unit's operations on 6 March, after it identified damage in pipelines that send steam to turbines. The No.4 unit is expected to return on line on 8 August following the pipeline replacement.

The company will separately extend a turnaround at its 350MW No.1 unit at its Shiriuchi oil-fired power plant. The turnaround was originally planned from 1 March-8 July, but the restart was postponed to 30 November as the unit requires a steam turbine maintenance.

Hokkaido Electric Power consumed 3.6mn t of coal for power generation in the April 2022-March 2023 fiscal year, down by 21pc from the previous year. It burned around 15,000 b/d of heavy fuel oil, which was up by 12pc from a year earlier.

By Maiko Nakashima