Osaka Gas will build Himeji Natural Gas Power Station’s 622.6MW Unit 3 in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture, jointly with the Development Bank of Japan, SMFL Mirai Partners, and Mizuho Lease, the company said on March 7, 2025.
The unit, being built by the four companies’ joint venture Himeji Natural Gas Power Generation No. 3, is expected to be commissioned in FY2030. It was awarded a capacity contract in Japan’s first long-term decarbonization auction.
Osaka Gas started planning the three-unit power plant, which will be built on land owned by Idemitsu Kosan and fueled by LNG supplied through Osaka Gas’s Himeji Terminal, in April 2016. The two companies formed a joint venture, Himeji Natural Gas Power Generation, which was wholly-acquired by Osaka Gas in September 2019 when it made the final investment decision to move ahead with the construction of Units 1 and 2.
Himeji Natural Gas Power Station Units 1 and 2 are expected to be commissioned in January and May 2026, respectively. They will join Osaka Gas’s 1.1GW Senboku Natural Gas Power Station in Osaka Prefecture, four smaller, 100MW to 150MW-scale thermal power plants, a pair of co-generation plants, and a wind and solar portfolio.
Separately in the same area, Kansai Electric Power begun the environmental impact assessment process for repowering its Himeji No. 1 Power Station from 1.44GW to 1.95GW. The two projects highlight Japan’s ongoing shift from coal- and oil-fired generation to LNG.
