TOKYO, December 09. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian gas giant Gazprom and authorities of Niigata prefecture, Japan, are to study possible joint construction of a thermal power station on its territory, Japanese central TV channel NHK reports.
Gazprom representatives are meeting with prefecture deputy governor Kunio Mori on Monday, the local administration told Itar-Tass. The agenda remains unknown but local media report the parties will discuss building a thermal station to operate on Russia-supplied natural gas.
Japan has no energy resources, importing those it needs. Notably, the country is a major purchaser of liquefied natural gas (LNG). In 2012, it imported 55.8 million tonnes of the fuel.
Meanwhile, all commercial nuclear reactors have been out of action since the Fukushima disaster in 2011. The suspension has brought a sharp rise in fuel purchases, including LNG, for thermal power stations.
Russian LNG has recently been increasingly significant for Japan. It now accounts for about nine percent of Japan’s annual gas imports.
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