In a consultative statement issued to Tokyo's industry ministry, Environment Minister Koichi Yamamoto warned that Chubu Electric's plan for a 1.07 gigawatt (GW) plant in central Japan should be reexamined if the utility cannot map out concrete steps to cut carbon emissions by 2030 and later.
Final approval for the plant rests with the industry ministry, and the environment ministry makes comments in an advisory role only.
But the statement complicates life for Japan's power industry at it seeks to build new coal-fired power capacity to compensate for its nuclear sector being still mostly shut down in the wake of the 2011's Fukushima disaster. Chubu Electric currently plans to begin building the new coal-fired unit at its existing Taketoyo plant site next year.
The tough stance against Chubu Electric's plant reflects the environment ministry's growing concern that Japan risks missing commitments made under the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement, ratified by Tokyo in November last year. This is the second time that the ministry called for reconsideration of a plan to build a new coal power plant since then.
Final approval for the plant rests with the industry ministry, and the environment ministry makes comments in an advisory role only.
But the statement complicates life for Japan's power industry at it seeks to build new coal-fired power capacity to compensate for its nuclear sector being still mostly shut down in the wake of the 2011's Fukushima disaster. Chubu Electric currently plans to begin building the new coal-fired unit at its existing Taketoyo plant site next year.
The tough stance against Chubu Electric's plant reflects the environment ministry's growing concern that Japan risks missing commitments made under the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement, ratified by Tokyo in November last year. This is the second time that the ministry called for reconsideration of a plan to build a new coal power plant since then.