Japan's largest power producer by capacity Jera has started commercial operations at its 650MW Yokosuka No.2 coal-fired generation unit, around two months earlier than originally scheduled.

Jera began normal operations at the No.2 unit at Yokosuka on 22 December, after it had conducted test power generation since May. The company has advanced the start-up of the new unit to make the most of its capacity during the country's winter peak demand season that typically runs from December-February. The unit was previously targeted to begin commercial operations in February.

Jera has worked on upgrading the Yokosuka power plant since August 2019, replacing the 2,274MW oil-fired power plant that was scrapped in March 2017. Another 650MW No.1 coal-fired unit started commercial power generation in June.

The new coal-fired units at Yokosuka are equipped with ultra-super critical technology that are deemed efficient in Japan's thermal power generation sector. Tokyo has already vowed to phase out existing inefficient coal-fired capacity with less than 42pc efficiency by 2030.