Japan's Jera said on Wednesday it has established a new global energy business unit based in Singapore to manage its long-term liquefied natural gas, upstream and lower-carbon fuels portfolio.
The new subsidiary, known as Jera Global Energy Solutions, will oversee the Japanese utility's long-term LNG origination, portfolio management, shipping and low-carbon fuels businesses, including hydrogen and ammonia.
Jera GES will gradually assume responsibility for Jera's existing long-term LNG and lower-carbon fuel businesses, in accordance with a phased transition plan.
The company will work closely with Jera's existing trading arm, Jera Global Markets, which will continue to handle trading and optimization activities.
Together, the two businesses will manage Jera's LNG portfolio across different time horizons, combining long-term supply planning with short-term market flexibility.
Separately, Jera signed a memorandum of understanding with Thailand's state-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand to explore the development of hydrogen and ammonia value chains in the country.
The two companies agreed to assess market opportunities, technical and commercial feasibility, and regulatory frameworks for the use of hydrogen and ammonia in power generation.
Thailand has set a target of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and is exploring low-carbon fuels to diversify its future energy mix.
Jera also separately outlined measures to secure electricity supply during Japan's summer peak-demand period from July through September, including maintaining thermal power capacity, securing additional LNG supplies and operating some coal-fired plants.
The company said it had secured additional generation capacity through newly commissioned power plants and would temporarily restart operations at the 1-gigawatt Unit 2 of its Sodegaura thermal power station, which had been under long-term shutdown.
Jera said that it was arranging alternative LNG procurement sources to maintain fuel inventories and expected no significant disruptions to Japan's electricity supply-demand balance in the near term, despite rising global LNG prices.
The Japanese firm is also said to continue restoration work at the Taketoyo thermal power station, with plans to resume biomass co-firing operations by June 2028. The plant will operate on coal during peak-demand periods to support the electricity supply until the restoration work is complete.