An explosion occurred Wednesday at a thermal power plant in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, police and other sources said, with no immediate reports of injuries due to the incident.
Firefighters received an emergency call at around 3:10 p.m. reporting an explosion and that black smoke was rising at the plant in Taketoyo run by Jera Co., a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. and Chubu Electric Power Co.
The explosion apparently occurred inside a boiler facility on the 13th floor of a building, according to the local fire department. A conveyor system used to transport fuel also caught fire.
Jera said the power plant uses coal and woody biomass as fuel and has a maximum output of 1.07 million kilowatts. Due to the explosion, its generator was shut down at around 3:30 p.m.
The incident has not impacted electricity supplies in the plant's service area, the Natural Resources and Energy Agency said.
A man who was working at a nearby construction site said, "The ground rumbled as if lightning had struck nearby, and a pillar of fire rose from a building. Black smoke rose quickly."
