NextEra secures Trump's approval for up to 10 GW gas power projects

March 20 (Reuters) - NextEra Energy NEE.N said on Friday U.S. President Donald Trump has approved the development of up to 10 gigawatts of natural gas-fired power generation in Texas and Pennsylvania, as part of a broader U.S.-Japan trade agreement.

The company said it will build and operate the Texas and Pennsylvania projects, which are expected to be jointly owned by U.S. and Japanese stakeholders.

The approval is tied to Japan's $550 billion investment commitment to the U.S. The two countries announced expanded cooperation at a summit on Thursday, including Japanese investment of up to $73 billion in U.S. energy projects and an action plan to develop alternatives to China for critical minerals and rare earths.

The plants are aimed at meeting rising electricity demand from large users such as data centers and advanced manufacturing without increasing household power bills, the company said.

The approved developments include the company's previously disclosed Texas hub, which it is developing with Comstock Resources.

Chief executive officer John Ketchum said the projects align with NextEra's broader hub strategy and with the administration's objective of expanding domestic energy supply.

The U.S. utility said it is targeting about 40 hub sites, with 30 in various stages of development.

Separately, the U.S. Energy Department said on Friday it had partnered with SB Energy, a SoftBank Group unit, and AEP to build 9.2 gigawatts of natural gas power capacity in Ohio, backed by $33.3 billion in Japanese funding.