Tokyo Gas to spend Y2t on clean energy

Japanese city gas distributor Tokyo Gas Co Ltd said on Friday it will spend 2 trillion yen ($17.5 billion) on cleaner fuels, such as hydrogen, and renewable power with the aim of doubling its profit to 200 billion yen by 2030.

"We need to accelerate our actions in the face of a growing global trend toward decarbonisation," Tokyo Gas President Takashi Uchida told a news conference.

"We will begin benefitting from our planned investments in the later 2020s and aim to achieve 200 billion yen profit in 2030," he said.

Tokyo Gas's estimated profit - operating profit plus profit from its shareholdings - for this financial year to next March is forecast at 104 billion yen.

About a quarter of the 2 trillion yet budget will be allocated to renewable energy and 100 billion yen to hydrogen production and other clean fuels.

Some 500 billion yen will be spent overseas, including on expanding upstream development by its US shale gas unit and liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure operations in Asia, Uchida said.

– Reuters