Kyushu Electric Power secured a long-term decarbonization auction (LTDA) contract for its planned project to repower the 1.2GW Shin-Kokura Power Station in Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, the company announced on May 13, 2026.
According to the statement, the utility plans to replace the power plant’s two remaining operable Units 3 and 5, both 600MW steam turbines, with a new 900MW-class Unit 6 comprising two 450MW-class combined-cycle gas turbines. It targets FY2033 COD for the replacement facilities. In the medium- to long-term, the asset is expected to be converted to clean fuels.
The LTDA award follows the project’s environmental impact assessment completion in February 2026. The documents filed at the time showed that Kyushu Electric Power was seeking to build a full-scale 1.2GW replacement with phased commissioning in FY2030 and FY2031, suggesting a downscaling and delay compared with the initial plan.
Shin Kokura Power Station was commissioned in 1961. The initial 156MW Unit 1 was followed by the same-scale Unit 2 in 1962. Units 3 through 5, 600MW each, were added in 1978, 1979, and 1983, respectively. The first two units were decommissioned in October 2004. Unit 4 went under long-term shutdown in April 2021 before being formally decommissioned at the end of March 2022.
