Tokyo Gas mulling electricity biz in Central Japan

December 15, 2017

Tokyo- Tokyo Gas Co. is considering expanding into the electricity market in central Japan, following full liberalization of power retail sales in spring last year, President Michiaki Hirose said in a recent interview.

Tokyo Gas is in talks with Toho Gas Co. , based in Nagoya, on a business tie-up to "heat up competition in the Chubu region," Hirose said.

It would be the first time for Tokyo Gas to launch domestic electricity operations outside the Kanto region, its home market.

Hirose said competition has yet to be intensified in Chubu, the stronghold of Chubu Electric Power Co. <9502>, based in the same central Japan city.

"In order for Toho Gas to start power business, it needs to procure electricity," Hirose said, indicating that his company will cooperate mainly on the supply side.

He specifically presented the idea of Tokyo Gas helping Toho Gas procure electricity from Kansai Electric Power Co. and Kyushu Electric Power Co. , regional power suppliers that have restarted nuclear reactors.

Meanwhile, Hirose said his company will be a "backseat player" in electricity sales in Chubu. "Toho Gas should be at the forefront," Hirose added.

He also said his company hopes to team up with power firms from the beginning of a project to build a liquefied national gas power plant in Ibaraki Prefecture, east of Tokyo. The president cited Kansai Electric and Kyushu Electric as candidate partners.

Tokyo Gas has won more than one million contracts in electricity retail sales so far. The company aims to increase the number to 2.2 million in fiscal 2020.

Under its midterm business plan released in October, Tokyo Gas set a target of increasing its power sources to a total of 5 million kilowatts in 2020s from the current 1.6 million kilowatts. Jiji Press