Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. promised to carry out drastic reforms to strengthen its corporate governance in a new special business plan disclosed Wednesday.

TEPCO filed for government approval of the plan, which puts priority on the governance reforms after security and other problems were found at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture, central Japan.

The special plan also features up to 3 trillion yen in fresh investments over the decade through fiscal 2030 to develop renewable energy sources toward the goal of achieving decarbonization.

“We’ll remake TEPCO into a company that can meet the expectations of society,” Chairman Yoshimitsu Kobayashi told industry minister Hiroshi Kajiyama after submitting the special plan to the government.

TEPCO will work actively to fight negative rumors over a plan to release into the ocean treated radioactive water from its meltdown-stricken Fukushima No. 1 power plant, which was adopted by the government in April this year, according to the plan.

TEPCO plans to continue generating an annual profit of around 450 billion yen after setting aside 500 billion yen each year for fresh outlays on nuclear plant decommissioning and compensation for damage caused by the nuclear accident.

The company aims to halve the carbon dioxide emissions from its electricity sales operations from the fiscal 2013 level in fiscal 2030, which ends in March 2031.

It also plans to achieve carbon neutrality over its entire energy operations, also including gas business, by 2050.

TEPCO, put under effective state control following the Fukushima plant nuclear disaster, draws up a special business plan every few years.

The company planned to release the latest one in spring last year, but it was delayed amid the novel coronavirus crisis.

JIJI Press