(Bloomberg) -- Delays in restarting nuclear reactors and a solar installation slowdown are tightening Japan’s power supply outlook and will push up electricity prices next year, BloombergNEF said in a report.
Monthly prices will peak at around 16 yen ($0.11) per kilowatt hour in January, BNEF analysts Mariko O’Neil and Yumi Kim said in the report released on Tuesday, in which they raised their average price estimate for 2025 by 15%.
“Japan’s nuclear restart program remains one of the biggest unknowns in its power market, and continues to face delays,” the analysts said. Each month a reactor restart is postponed, Japan requires a little more than one additional liquefied natural gas shipment, they said.
Nuclear used to account for about a quarter of Japan’s power mix, but many reactors were idled after the Fukushima disaster in 2011, and it was under 8% last year. The government has been trying to restart them to curb fossil fuel imports, but strict regulations and some local opposition have kept most of the country’s 33 operable reactors offline.
BNEF revised down its near-term power capacity outlook by around 4%, and said overall consumption was set to increase slightly due to increasing demand from data centers and semiconductor factories.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.