Osaka Gas commissioned the 622.6MW Himeji Natural Gas Power Station Unit 1 on January 1, 2026, the company announced on January 5, 2026, marking its first new fossil-fired project to come online since 2017.
According to the statement, Osaka Gas finalized the decision to invest in the project, including a same-capacity Unit 2 scheduled for May 2026 COD, in September 2019. Both units are owned by Himeji Natural Gas Power Generation, which was initially established as a joint venture with Idemitsu Kosan before being wholly acquired by the gas company.
Unit 1 joins Osaka Gas’ approximately 2GW of thermal capacity operational prior to its commissioning, which includes the 1.1GW Senboku Natural Gas Power Station in Osaka Prefecture and several smaller power plants. The company is also developing a third 622.6MW unit at Himeji Natural Gas Power Station jointly with the Development Bank of Japan, SMFL Mirai Partners, and Mizuho Lease, which it plans to commission in FY2030.
Himeji Natural Gas Power Station comes online as Japan transitions away from coal power plants while ensuring a stable power supply. Several other LNG-fired projects, such as Hokuriku Electric Power’s 600MW Toyama Shinko Unit 2, ENEOS Power’s 750MW Ogimachi Natural Gas Power Plant, and Kansai Electric Power’s long-term decarbonization auction-backed repowering of the 1.86GW Nanko Power Station, are under development.
