As energy costs soar, Japan power utilities rush to secure cash

Bond offerings by eight companies reach 24-year high

20220717N Onagawa power plant

Tohoku Electric will issue bonds to finance safety measures for the Onagawa nuclear power plant. 

RYO MUKANO, Nikkei staff writer

TOKYO -- Japanese power utilities are stepping up fundraising as high resource prices and a weak yen deplete their cash holdings, with total bond offerings this fiscal year set to rise 6% to 1.73 trillion yen ($12.4 billion).

The figure is based on fundraising targets by Japan's top eight utilities -- a group that excludes Chubu Electric Power and Chugoku Electric Power. Bonds issued by the eight that are slated to mature in fiscal 2022 total roughly 700 billion yen, according to I-N Information Systems, meaning that the companies plan to procure 2.5 times the amount in the year through March 2023.

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