Katya Golubkova

JERA, Japan's biggest utility, on Friday posted a 12% increase in net profit for the three-month period ended in September to 156.2 billion yen ($1 billion), backed by improving overseas and renewable-energy power business.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament on Friday that homemade sources of energy like nuclear power and perovskite solar cells are important for the country.

Japan's new prime minister Sanae Takaichi is expected to push for the accelerated revival of nuclear power to tackle inflation, a source of public discontent, with reactor restarts key to reducing costly fuel imports.

Japan's budding power futures market could be set for a growth spurt as a government proposal requiring retailers to secure electricity supply as much as three years in advance is likely to spur hedging activity to protect against price fluctuation.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that he told Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato that the Trump administration expects Japan to stop importing Russian energy.

Shares in Japanese renewable energy company Renova plunged more than 11% on Monday, making it the biggest loser on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's prime market, after Sanae Takaichi looked set to become Japan's next prime minister.

Activist investor Elliott Management, a shareholder in Kansai Electric Power , said the Japanese utility could become a more attractive long-term investment by selling non-core assets and boosting profitability and shareholder returns.

Japan's top power producer, JERA, will explore liquefied natural gas offtake from the Alaska LNG project, JERA and developer Glenfarne said, as talks to ink firm binding sale contracts for the $44-billion project continue.

Japan aims to start planning a national floating wind test centre next year, a senior industry official said, vowing to pursue a path of wind power growth despite a recent setback when Mitsubishi quit three projects.

Investors are pouring billions of dollars into Japan's nascent electricity storage market as power demand is growing after a long decline, but changes proposed to smooth the flow of energy onto the grid and to lower prices threaten to curb returns.