TEPCO eyes $18b green power expansion

It plans to fund its new ventures through a $92.45m green bond offering.

The renewable power unit of Japan’s biggest utility TEPCO plans to spend more than $18b (JPY2t) over the next 10 years to boost its green generation by as much as 70%.

The push by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) comes as the nation’s institutions are under increasing pressure to curb support for coal, both at home and abroad, and as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government seeks to bolster the role of clean power.

The unit, TEPCO Renewable Power, plans to help fund its new ventures through a green bond offering that may exceed $92.45m (JPY10b) and is likely to come before March, according to President Seiichi Fubasami. Offshore wind and hydro generation are the unit’s primary focuses as it seeks to develop 7GW of green power capacity in Japan and overseas.

“To cope with climate change, we are moving toward a carbon-free society,” he said in an interview on 3 June. “Our target is to make renewable energy a main source of power.”

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