TOKYO: A local government in western Japan is planning to build a liquefied natural gas terminal to import shale gas from the United States and help reduce reliance on nuclear energy, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday.
The government of Fukui Prefecture will work with the national government and seek cooperation from Kansai Electric Power Co, Hokuriku Electric Power Co and Osaka Gas Co on the project, the Nikkei reported without citing the source of its information.
Nuclear power supplied nearly 30 percent of Japan's electricity needs before a massive earthquake and tsunami nearly two years ago sparked nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima plant in the northeast.
Since then, almost all of Japan's nuclear plants have been idled due to worries about safety in the earthquake-prone country.
Fukui Prefecture, which is also eyeing Russian energy group Gazprom as a potential source of LNG, is planning to build a thermal power plant and a pipeline to carry the fuel to other parts of western Japan, the Nikkei said.
Tsuruga Bay, which opens into the Sea of Japan, is a leading candidate for the LNG terminal and the thermal power plant, the Nikkei said.
That stretch of Fukui's coastline has been nicknamed the "Atomic Arcade," because it hosts more nuclear reactors than any other part of the country.
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