As of October 1, 2024, the number of operating units is same as last month.

Operating: 167 Units
Planned (including under construction): 1 Units
Retired: 9 Units

On September 27, Kyushu Electric Power announced the decision to decommission Buzen Power Station Unit 2 and Karita Power Station Unit New 1 (only available in Japanese). The main reason for the discontinuation of both units is aging. The oil-fired Buzen Power Plant Station Unit 2 (Fukuoka Prefecture, 500MW) will be closed in March 2026, and the coal-fired Karita Power Station Unit New Unit 1 (Fukuoka Prefecture, 360MW) will be closed in June 2026.

Nevertheless, the phase-out of domestic coal-fired power plants has been slow and is lagging behind the rest of the world. In the United Kingdom, the last coal-fired power station officially ended operation on September 30. The G7 nations have agreed to phase out unabated coal-fired power by 2035, and the United Kingdom has become the first to achieve this goal.

[supplement]
In our September 1 update, we stated that the fuel conversion date of the Suzukawa Energy Center in Shizuoka Prefecture (originally started operation in 2016, 112 MW) was July 2022, but we were able to receive confirmation that the fuel was changed from coal to wood pellets on June 22, 2022. JBC has updated this information (retirement date of coal-fired power plant).

*The full database can be downloaded in Excel format on this page.
*Click here (PDF) to download a summary of Japan’s coal plant data.