The deals come as Japan’s government is reevaluating how it can enhance energy security in the face of a fuel crunch at home. Global LNG supply is slated to remain tight for years, which threatens to increase import costs and add to rising inflation.

The 2023 contractual expiries represent roughly 8% of Japan's annual LNG imports of around 74 million mt, a level that will likely be difficult to replace with incremental supply from other long-term term contracts and short-to-mid-term contracts amid tight LNG markets.

Japan has many years of experience operating the High-Temperature Test Reactor (HTTR), a 30 MWt prototype graphite-moderated helium gas-cooled reactor, and Poland has been working with Japan for several years on the potential implementation of such technology.

Japan aims to expand offshore wind energy capacity to 10 GW by 2030 and 30-45 GW by 2040.

Japan sees an equity stake in the Sakhalin 1 oil, gas project important as it relies around 95% on Middle Eastern oil imports.

As a first step toward enhancing cooperation under WECAN, the USA and Japan announced a partnership with Ghana to support Ghana's ambition of being a first mover in SMR deployment in Africa and establishing itself as an advanced nuclear technology hub.

Japan wants to avoid an energy crunch by offering financial support before winter, when heating demand is expected to increase. Spot LNG prices remain at high levels amid a risk of supply disruption from Russia given its war with Ukraine.

Tokyo Gas and Japan's largest power generation company JERA said previously that they have signed new LNG supply agreements on the same terms as previous agreements. Sources said that new contracts were required due to the change of operator.

Japan's biggest city gas supplier Tokyo Gas Co Ltd has signed a long-term contract with a new Russian operator of Sakhalin-2 energy project to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG), a spokesperson for the Japanese company said on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has recently called for Japan to work to restart its idled nuclear power reactors and to look into an expansion of nuclear energy as the country tackles a crisis of tight power supply and demand.