TOKYO, July 31 — Japan's top power generator JERA announced on Friday that it has secured sufficient liquefied natural gas (LNG) inventories to cover peak summer demand from August through October, ensuring stable power supply even if a heatwave increases consumption.

"We have secured sufficient LNG stocks for the peak summer demand season from August to October, and there are no issues regarding stable power supply," said Masato Otaki, an executive officer at JERA.

JERA, a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power, is Japan's largest LNG buyer, handling about 35 million metric tons annually. Otaki noted that the company will carefully manage inventories for the winter months by leveraging its global trading arm to optimize procurement, with Qatar representing only a small share of its LNG supply portfolio.

Regarding reports of plans to build a large-scale gas-fired power plant in the U.S., Otaki said North American independent power producer (IPP) operations are a core business and that JERA is evaluating various projects but declined to comment on specific plans.

The company reported a net profit of 123.1 billion yen ($766 million) for April to June, up 31% year-on-year, and forecasted a full-year net profit of 280 billion yen, an increase of 86.4 billion yen from the previous year. Otaki attributed the stronger earnings mainly to improved performance in domestic thermal and gas operations, particularly LNG and coal businesses, boosted by higher-than-anticipated wholesale electricity prices.

JERA is also proceeding with the resale of long-term power purchase agreements, including coal-fired power contracts, to help reduce costs for customers. Otaki said, "While this would weigh on our earnings, it would contribute to social stability in the long term and support more stable profits from next year onwards."