Latest news with #TokyoGas
Japan Times
15 hours ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Japan seeks gas past 2050, with AI and data centers set to lift demand
Japan is encouraging energy importers to secure liquefied natural gas (LNG) past 2050 — the deadline the second-biggest buyer of the fossil fuel has set itself for net zero emissions. Several of the country's largest LNG buyers are considering 20-year supply deals with projects that would start after 2030, according to people with knowledge of the discussions, who asked not to be named as the negotiations are private. They aim to deploy technology such as carbon capture and storage to mitigate the emissions from burning the super-chilled fossil fuel under Japan's national target. The government expects a boom in artificial intelligence, data centers and semiconductor chip-making factories to revive power demand, which has been tracking a declining population for years. It sees LNG as vital to energy security, even as it works on increasing renewable energy generation and restarting nuclear reactors idled after the 2011 Fukushima No. 1 disaster. "During the transition period toward carbon neutrality by 2050, we believe LNG will continue to play an important role,' Nobuhiro Sugesawa, a senior managing executive officer at Tokyo Gas, said in an interview. "Even with 15- or 20-year contracts, long-term contracts should remain a core part of our strategy.' In order to adhere to climate commitments and continue using gas-fired power plants, companies are looking to use carbon capture systems or mix the fuel with green ammonia and hydrogen. These technologies have yet to be deployed on a significant scale in Japan. The state-backed Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security is providing financial support for importers seeking to invest in overseas LNG projects but is also assisting with negotiations, said Hiroyuki Mori, an executive vice president at the organization. "We have to also take care of environmental issues,' like methane emissions control or carbon capture, he said. Japan will require about 74 million metric tons of LNG by fiscal year 2040 if it only curbs greenhouse gas emissions by 61% from 2013 levels, the trade ministry said in an estimate released earlier this year. Japan imported 65 million metric tons last calendar year, according to ship-tracking data. The companies are also looking for LNG supply that is flexible, like that being offered from the U.S. Gulf Coast, as that will allow them to divert shipments to other nations should domestic demand falter, the people said. "Even as we push forward with decarbonization, it remains extremely important to continue utilizing fossil fuels,' Yoshifumi Murase, the commissioner of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy within the trade ministry, said at a conference in Tokyo this week.
CNA
3 days ago
- Business
- CNA
Tokyo Gas expects no direct impact on LNG buying from Iran-Israel conflict
TOKYO :Japan's biggest city-gas supplier, Tokyo Gas, sees no direct impact on its liquefied natural gas (LNG) procurement from the Iran-Israel conflict, a company executive said on Wednesday. "Since we don't import LNG from Qatar or UAE, our LNG procurement is not directly affected at this time," Nobuhiro Sugesawa, senior managing executive officer, told Reuters on the sidelines of the Japan Energy Summit conference. "But we are monitoring the situation with the utmost interest," he said, noting that escalating tensions in the Middle East could drive up LNG prices and disrupt global supply. The Iran-Israel air war entered a sixth day on Wednesday with concerns the conflict could widen as U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for Iran's "unconditional surrender", despite the U.S. not being actively involved in the fighting. Sugesawa said the utility may boost procurement from the United States, which currently accounts for about 10 per cent of its total supply, as it is viewed as an attractive source of supply. JERA, Japan's biggest power generator, last week announced that it had agreed to source U.S. LNG from four different providers. Regarding the Alaska LNG project, Sugesawa said Tokyo Gas is interested, noting its historical significance as the company's first-ever LNG imports came from Alaska more than 50 years ago. However, he added that the company would need to assess specific conditions, including economic feasibility, before moving forward. The company mainly buys LNG from Australia, along with Malaysia and Russia.
CNA
3 days ago
- Business
- CNA
Tokyo Gas executive: no impact expected on LNG buying from Iran-Israel conflict
TOKYO :Japan's biggest city-gas supplier Tokyo Gas expects no direct impact on its liquefied natural gas (LNG) procurement from the Iran-Israel conflict, but its is closely monitoring developments as it could influence oil-linked and spot LNG prices, a company executive said on Wednesday. The Japanese utility may increase U.S. LNG procurement as it is seen as an attractive supply source, Nobuhiro Sugesawa, senior managing executive officer, told Reuters on the sidelines of the Japan Energy Summit conference.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Tokyo Gas executive: no impact expected on LNG buying from Iran-Israel conflict
TOKYO, June 18 (Reuters) - Japan's biggest city-gas supplier Tokyo Gas (9531.T), opens new tab expects no direct impact on its liquefied natural gas (LNG) procurement from the Iran-Israel conflict, but its is closely monitoring developments as it could influence oil-linked and spot LNG prices, a company executive said on Wednesday. The Japanese utility may increase U.S. LNG procurement as it is seen as an attractive supply source, Nobuhiro Sugesawa, senior managing executive officer, told Reuters on the sidelines of the Japan Energy Summit conference.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Tokyo Gas Wins CNCF End User Case Study Contest for Driving Cloud Native Agility with Kubernetes, Argo and Istio
Company to present digital platform modernization success at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Japan 2025 TOKYO, June 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cloud Native Computing Foundation® (CNCF®), which builds sustainable ecosystems for cloud native software, today announced Tokyo Gas as the winner of the CNCF End User Case Study Contest. Selected for its innovative use of Kubernetes, Argo CD, and Istio to modernize its largest digital membership platform, Tokyo Gas will share its cloud native journey at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Japan 2025, 16–17 June in Tokyo. The myTOKYOGAS development team at Tokyo Gas embarked on a strategic refactoring effort to overcome the limitations of its lift-and-shift cloud migration. Initially constrained by monolithic architecture, rigid virtual machines, and slow release cycles, the team sought to enhance scalability, deployment speed, and operational efficiency. This transformation became critical following the phased and subsequent full deregulation of Japan's energy retail market – with the electric power retail market regulated in April 2016 and the gas retail market in April 2017 – which accelerated the need for business agility and stronger customer engagement. "Modernizing a legacy system is never easy, but by embracing a cloud native architecture, we have a flexible foundation for long-term innovation in order to compete in a rapidly changing market," said Yusuke Sugiyama, software engineer, Tokyo Gas. "Kubernetes, Argo CD, and Istio allowed us to reduce costs, better engage with our customers, and streamline our operations. We are proud to share our progress at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Japan and contribute to the open source community that helped make our success possible." Tokyo Gas is one of Japan's leading energy providers, serving approximately 13 million customers. In leveraging cloud native technologies, it plays a critical role in reducing data center energy consumption and supporting the transition to a carbon-neutral future. CNCF looks forward to seeing Tokyo Gas use these technologies to advance towards its sustainability goals. To address the challenges, Tokyo Gas adopted Kubernetes to enable dynamic scaling, Argo CD to implement GitOps practices, and Istio to support a microservices-based architecture. These open source solutions reduced operational burden and vendor lock-in, while enabling a more sustainable and future-ready platform. Within just a few months, a small team launched the first microservice, achieving measurable results: 30% cost savings through dynamic scaling with Kubernetes and Karpenter 30% reduction in operational effort via Kubernetes auto-healing Faster deployments enabled by GitOps and Argo CD Drastic reduction in testing time from two months to two weeks with k6 on Kubernetes "Kubernetes combined with Argo and Istio are transforming how organizations build and operate software at scale," said Chris Aniszczyk, CTO of CNCF." Tokyo Gas is a great example of what's possible when these technologies come together. By leaning into open source and cloud native best practices, it has made its systems more agile, sustainable, and ready to meet the needs of a rapidly evolving energy market." As Tokyo Gas continues to expand its microservices-based architecture, its success highlights how open source technologies can power not only innovation, but also environmental responsibility. Their upcoming KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Japan presentation will offer practical insights for organizations at the beginning of their cloud native transformation. For more information and the full event schedule, including Tokyo Gas's session "From Legacy to Lift-Off: How Tokyo Gas Accelerated Innovation with Kubernetes, Argo CD, and Istio" on 17 June, visit: Additional Resources CNCF Newsletter CNCF Twitter CNCF Website Learn About CNCF Membership Learn About the CNCF End User Community About Cloud Native Computing FoundationCloud native computing empowers organizations to build and run scalable applications with an open source software stack in public, private, and hybrid clouds. The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) hosts critical components of the global technology infrastructure, including Kubernetes, Prometheus, and Envoy. CNCF brings together the industry's top developers, end users, and vendors and runs the largest open source developer conferences in the world. Supported by more than 800 members, including the world's largest cloud computing and software companies, as well as over 200 innovative startups, CNCF is part of the nonprofit Linux Foundation. For more information, please visit The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Media Contact Haley White The Linux Foundation pr@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE CNCF Sign in to access your portfolio
