Japan power source - (Boris Kan, JPMorgan)

Just did a quick check on the EIA / World Nuclear Association and obtained the following info:

1) In 2007, 67% of Japan’s power generated came from conventional thermal sources (of which 30% from gas-fired power, 25% from coal fired power and ~10% from oil fired), 24% from nuclear, 7% from hydroelectric, and 2% from other renewable energies.

2) According to EIA, Japan’s aging oil-fired power plants are used primarily as extra capacity to meet peak demand. While we don’t have the exact utilization hour numbers, gas fired power plants, as do most other countries in the world, should also fulfill part of the incremental peak demand.

3) As for nuclear, Japan currently has 55 operating nuclear reactors with a total installed generating capacity of around 47.5 GW. 63% of the operating nuclear capacities have been in operations for >20 years (See attached file for project-by-project breakdown)

4) Currently, there are 2 nuclear reactors under construction (2.8GW in total) and another 11 reactors (15GW in total) under planning (see attached file as well).

5) The Government plans to increase nuclear's share of total electricity generation from 24% in 2008 to 40% by 2017 and to 50 percent by 2030, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

6) Power generation figures from another source (CEIC) indicated that nuclear power generation mix increased to ~30% in 2010 already.