August 19, 2015
Tepco Holding Company To Take Charge Of Fukushima Decommissioning
Policies & Politics
19 Aug (NucNet): The Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) will spin off its non-nuclear businesses into three subsidiary companies as of 1 April 2016, keeping its nuclear business and the decommissioning related to the March 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi accident in the parent holding company, Tepco has said.
Tepco said it will spin off its fuel and thermal power generation into Tepco Fuel & Power Inc., its transmission and distribution network operation into Tepco Power Grid Inc., and its electricity retail business into Tepco Energy Partner Inc. The changes will help the company “adopt the most effective business strategy possible”, Tepco said.
The three subsidiaries will be part of the Tepco Holding company, which will be in charge of its nuclear energy assets, including the “compensation, decommissioning and revitalisation related to the Fukushima nuclear accident,” Tepco said. It will directly employ about 7,900 people for nuclear power generation and decommissioning.
The aim of the corporate reorganisation is for Tepco to generate resources for the decommissioning of the Fukushima-Daiichi station and to improve the company’s value by building a sustainable revenue base.
Tepco also said it has signed a letter of intent to promote the development of two 540-megawatt coal-fired power plants in Fukushima prefecture together with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Joban Joint Power Company, which will form a “Fukushima Revitalization Power Consortium".
Tepco is undertaking the coal power plant projects as part of its contribution to the revitalisation of Fukushima prefecture and aim to support the local economy by creating an industrial base and job opportunities, Tepco said.
In February 2012, Tepco received a government bailout worth about 11 trillion Yen (then about $137 billion; €106 billion) related to the decommissioning of the Fukushima-Daiichi station, compensation of the evacuees from Fukushima prefecture and the company’s continuing operations.
In April 2014, Tepco said it intended to “bolster” efforts to award compensation to those affected by the accident with total payouts expected to be in the region of $47 billion (€34 billion). The total cost of the accident has been estimated by the Japanese government at $100 billion and decommissioning costs have been put at around $20 billion, according to Tepco’s business plan.
In July 2015, Tepco announced a 203 billion Yen ($1.65 billion; €1.5 billion) net profit for the second quarter of 2015, compared to a 173 billion Yen loss in the same period in 2014, mainly due to low oil prices and cost-cutting measures, the Bloomberg news agency reported.
