Japan

Kansai Electric wants to restart the 450 megawatt No.2 oil-fired unit at its Kainan plant in western Japan by next summer.

Kansai Electric will build two solar power plants with a total capacity of 1 MW in Fukui prefecture in western Japan  by March 2015.

Kyushu Electric will ask users to conserve power from Dec. 26 after it shuts down its last operating nuclear reactor on Dec. 25.

Kyushu Electric Power Co will start a planned inspection of the 1,180-megawatt No.4 reactor at its Genkai nuclear plant on Dec. 25. This will necessitate the shutdown of the reactor on the same day.

Sales of solar cells in Japan rose 28.7 percent from a year earlier to 347.7 megawatts in July-September.

Kyushu Electric Power expects to buy an additional 2.2 million kilolitres or 13.8 million barrels of crude oil equivalent in December-March.

Japanese utility Tohoku Electric Power Co said on Thursday it has lost 400 megawatts of power output due to extended work on a turbine at its gas-fired 1,700-MW Higashi-Niigata plant. The company said it expects the unit to resume full operations around Dec. 1, after it replaces a turbine wing at the No.4 series unit. Tohoku on Tuesday resumed getting surplus power, totalling 700 MW, from neighboring utilities Tokyo Electric Power Co and Hokkaido Electric Power Co for the first time since the summer, as power demand spiked due to chilly winter weather. The northern utility has been struggling to secure enough power supplies on its own after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami damaged several nuclear and fossil-fuel fired plants. here  

Tohoku Electric Power lost 400 megawatts of power output due to extended work on a turbine at its gas-fired 1,700-MW Higashi-Niigata plant.

Anti-nuclear protesters held a series of large rallies in Japan's southwestern city of Fukuoka on Sunday.

Media have been allowed into Japan's tsunami-damaged nuclear power plant for the first time since the disaster.

They are among the 25 companies chosen by the Japanese government to undergo radiation decontamination tests after the Fukushima disaster.

Softbank Corp. will build three demonstration solar power plants in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido.

Kansai Electric Power is expected to face a power supply shortage in February of 2.53 million kilowatts.

Japan has approved a plan to provide 900 billion yen or $11.5 billion in public funds to Tepco.Japan's nuclear minister, Goshi Hosono, says the aid is meant to be a preliminary installment to help the cash-strapped Tokyo Electric Power Co. to cover the massive cost of ongoing decontamination and future dismantling of its reactors damaged in the ongoing nuclear crisis.The money comes from the fund made up of all Japanese nuclear plant operators and the government.

Smart meters for among 80% households to be delivered come 2015 instead of 2020.

The Japan government already sent several missions to China, Malaysia and Vietnam for smart community development and guess where the next stop is?