Fire and Explosion Reported at J-Power's Isogo Power Station in Yokohama

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources East Asia (Kofu-shi, Japan)--At approximately 10 p.m. on Thursday, November 24, a fire was reported in one of the vertical coal conveyor systems at the Isogo coal-fired power station in Yokohama, just to the south of Tokyo. Two hours later, an explosion occurred at the corresponding silo. The roof of the silo was blown off, spraying the site with debris.

The silo that suffered the explosion, C Silo, is one of four at Isogo, which is owned and operated by Electric Power Development Company Limited (TYO:9513) (J-Power) (Tokyo). C Silo has a storage capacity of approximately 250,000 metric tons of coal, and is used to fire both units 1 and 2 of Isogo, which is located on Tokyo Bay, adjacent to Negishi refinery, owned and operated by JX Nippon Oil and Energy Corporation (TYO:5001) (Tokyo). There were 20 people at the plant at the time of the explosion, but all have been accounted for and are reported safe.

Units 1 and 2 generate a total of 1,200 megawatts and both were shut down by 4:00 a.m. on the following Friday morning. By 8:00 a.m., the fire had been extinguished. All of the generating equipment for both units remains undamaged, however J-Power is unsure as to when it will restart the power station since both the vertical fuel system and C Silo were damaged. The coal that ignited in C Silo is currently still too hot to allow station and firefighting staff into the area to completely access the situation.

The loss of Isogo's capacity comes at a poor time. Japan's winter peak season faces power outages due to the country's lack of nuclear capacity. By the end of the year, only six of Japan's 44 operational nuclear reactors will be online. In October, electricity generated through nuclear energy dropped 73% in comparison to the previous year. Japan's electricity generation companies have been relying heavily on thermal power since March. Despite this, J-Power assured the media that there was little to no risk of the shut down of Isogo causing blackouts in the area.

View Plant Profile - 3025178

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.