TOKYO: Japan’s industry ministry will propose increasing coal-fired power generation use ​in the fiscal year starting April, as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran adds uncertainty to liquefied natural gas imports, it said in a plan to be submitted on Friday.

Japan takes delivery of some 4 million ‌metric tons of ‌LNG annually – or around ​6% ‌of ⁠its ​total imports – ⁠via the Strait of Hormuz which has been effectively closed due to the war.

In a plan to be presented to a special government expert group, the Ministry of Economy, Trade ⁠and Industry proposes suspending for one ‌year its ‌50% limit on the ​capacity utilisation rate of ‌coal-fired power plants.

LNG consumption could then ‌fall by about 0.5 million tons a year, or slightly more than 10% of the LNG it imports via the Strait ‌of Hormuz, METI said.

It was not clear how soon the ⁠proposal ⁠might be approved. The Nikkei, which first reported the plan on Thursday, said the prime minister was scheduled to make a related announcement.

Japan has an LNG stockpile of around 4 million tons, METI data showed. Its thermal power generation largely depends on LNG and coal, with a small ​portion covered ​by oil.

Reuters