Japan Power Prices Jump 20% to ￥25.18/kWh as Heat Wave and LNG Disruptions Bite

2 articles · Updated · The Japan Times · Aug 24

Japan’s nationwide next-day power price climbed 20% from a week earlier to ￥25.18 a kilowatt-hour on Monday, the highest level since January 2023.
Hot weather is lifting electricity demand just as fuel costs rise: the weather agency warned of unusually high temperatures, with Tokyo and Kansai near 35C and Nagasaki at 37C on Wednesday.
Asian spot LNG prices are now more than double pre-conflict levels from before U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran in late February, raising costs for Japan’s biggest power source.
Strait of Hormuz LNG shipments have been at a standstill since Iran attacked a Qatari-owned tanker in July, and Washington’s push to isolate Tehran has clouded any full reopening of a route that once carried about a fifth of global LNG.