Japanese utility Kansai Electric Power has shut its 1.8GW coal- and biomass-fired power generation plant at Maizuru in the north of Kyoto prefecture following a fire on 14 March.

The fire occurred at 21:52 Japan time (12:52 GMT) on 14 March at a facility that delivers wood pellets to boilers. This forced Kansai to halt operations of the 900MW No.2 unit at 01:25 on 15 March, according to a power plant operational status notice by the Japan Electric Power Exchange. The 900MW No.1 unit was off line for maintenance works from 1 March-22 July, when the fire hit the plant.

The fire had been fully extinguished by 08:26 on 15 March. Kansai is investigating the cause of the fire and it is still unclear when will the two units be brought back on line.

The Maizuru plant is Kansai's sole coal-fired plant. The No.1 unit began operations in August 2004, followed by the start-up of the No.2 unit in August 2010. Kansai started to use wood pellets at the No.1 unit in August 2008, with an initial mixture ratio of around 3pc, or 60,000 t/yr.

The unexpected capacity loss at Maizuru would not adversely affect power supplies in Kansai's service area, as electricity demand is expected to weaken in line with a seasonal rise in temperatures. But the company may increase replacement gas- and oil-fired outputs, especially when its 870MW Takahama No.4 nuclear reactor remains closed because of a technical issue related to its control rod drive system.

Assuming the reduction in coal and nuclear power capacity – 2.67GW – is entirely offset by gas-fired units running at an average 50pc efficiency rate, Kansai will need to secure around 251,000 t/month of LNG.