JFE Steel Corp. and Chugoku Electric Power Co. abandoned plans to develop a coal-fired power plant near Tokyo that had drawn scrutiny from a government official.
The companies will consider building a natural gas-fired power plant instead, they said in a statement Thursday. The originally planned 1.07-gigawatt coal-fired plant drew criticism last year from the environment minister at the time, Koichi Yamamoto, who urged the companies to review the plan citing environmental concerns.
¡°The company and its partners decided to cancel the project because construction costs would increase more than originally anticipated,¡± a spokesman for JFE Steel told reporters Thursday. ¡°Coal-fired power generation itself isn¡¯t a reason for canceling the project.¡±
Scrutiny of Japan¡¯s coal use is growing amid a broader global move away from fossil fuels.
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