Tepco to raise funds for nuclear investments
Japanese utility Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) aims to raise up to ¥555 billion ($6.6 billion) through the sale of shares and put a large part of the money towards investment in new nuclear power plants.
The company said that it will issue a total of 254.15 million common shares in Japan and overseas. The sale will be underwritten by a syndicate led by Nomura Securities. The offer price is to be determined between 12 and 14 October.
Tepco said that of the ¥555 billion ($6.6 billion) expected to be raised through the share sale some ¥270 billion ($3.2 billion) would be used for the "capital investment in zero-emission nuclear power plants, and state-of-the-art and highly efficient thermal power plants, as new equipments toward low-carbon power-supply facilities."
The company said, "Specifically, ¥220 billion ($2.6 billion) will be used for the construction of Higashidori Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 and ¥50 billion ($600 million) for the construction of Kawasaki Thermal Power Station Unit 2-1."
Construction of Higashidori 1 is scheduled to begin in December 2010. The 1385 MWe Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) is slated to begin operating in March 2017.
Tepco said that it intends to use the remaining funds raised through the share sale to "invest and finance in the growth businesses through its consolidated subsidiaries, mainly for the investment in overseas businesses such as the South Texas Project (STP) Units 3 and 4 and the Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Australia."
Earlier this year, Tepco agreed to take up a stake of at least 9% in the project to build two ABWRs at STP, should the project secures a US federal loan guarantee. Tepco, Toshiba and NRG are also involved in formal discussions with Japanese government financial institutions to try to secure financial support for the project.
Tepco said that the share issue and investment plans were in line with its recently announced '2020 Vision' medium- to long-term growth plan. The company said that the plan "maps out the direction of our business for the next ten years in the form of management policies designed to continue offering energy services based on low-cost, stable supply of electricity, as well as to achieve sustainable growth by pursuing new social and environmental roles in 'leading the low-carbon era' and by striking a balance between those roles and corporate profit."
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
