Mitsubishi Corp names power business boss Nakanishi as CEO (updated)
17/12/2021 10:01
(Adds quotes, detail)
TOKYO, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Japan's Mitsubishi Corp 8058.T
on Friday said executive vice president and power business chief
Katsuya Nakanishi will become the trading house's new president
and chief executive officer, effective April 1, 2022.
Current president Takehiko Kakiuchi will become chairman.
Nakanishi, 61, currently runs the firm's power solution
group and was involved in its 2019 acquisition of Eneco, one of
the Netherlands' largest power companies.
The move comes as Mitsubishi, which holds stakes in metals
and energy assets including fossil fuels, looks to adjust its
portfolio to meet growing global trend toward decarbonisation.
In October, Mitsubishi announced it would aim to halve its
greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 versus 2020 levels and to
achieve net zero emissions by 2050. It plans to invest 2
trillion yen ($17.6 billion) by 2030 in alternative energies
such as renewables and hydrogen. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2RE05K
"We have set out key issues for the future and we now need
to make them happen," Nakanishi, who led the creation of those
plans, told reporters.
"As president, I must take the lead in steadily promoting
the concrete measures," he said.
The investment fund will be used mainly to increase
renewable energy at home and abroad, and to create supply chains
of next-generation fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia while
maintaining its responsibility to provide a stable supply of
natural gas, he said.
Mitsubishi, which also has a large exposure to mineral
resources such as coking coal and copper, plans to expand its
copper assets as the metal is expected to benefit from growth in
electrification, Nakanishi said.
($1 = 113.5100 yen)
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; editing by Christopher Cushing an
Jason Neely)
((Yuka.Obayashi@thomsonreuters.com; +813-4520-1265;))