Differences in Japan's Hertz Frequencies Spur Power Crisis in Northeastern Areas

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources East Asia (Kofu-shi, Japan)--Eastern Japan, particularly the service areas of Tohoku Electric Power Company Incorporated (TYO:9506) (Tokuden) (Sendai, Japan) and Tokyo Electric Power Company Incorporated (TYO:9501) (TEPCO) (Tokyo), is currently lacking in power due to March 11's earthquake. These two power providers lost approximately 40 gigawatts (GW) of operating capacity following the events on March 11, and both companies have called for public cooperation to limit power consumption. Both also have had to implement unprecedented rolling power outages.

Hokkaido Electric Power Company Incorporated (TYO:9509) (Hokuden) (Sapporo, Japan), which is Hokkaido's power provider, is lending TEPCO 600 megawatts (MW), but this is taxing the company, which serves a sparsely populated area. Both TEPCO and Tokuden need more power until sufficient substitutions can be found or affected power stations can be restarted. Despite sharing the same high-voltage direct current (HVDC), western Japan is unable to effectively aid eastern Japan through power lending. Kansai Electric Power Company Incorporated (TYO:9503) (Kanden) (Osaka, Japan), Kansai region's power provider, plans to redirect approximately 100 MW from two hydropower stations within its generation area. At this time, no other companies in western Japan have made plans to do power lending; however, several companies, including Kanden and Chubu Electric Power Company Incorporated (TYO:9502) (Chuden) (Nagoya, Japan), have sent or are sending fuel, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil, to TEPCO. For more information, see March 31, 2011, article Kansai Electric to Lend LNG to Struggling Tokyo Electric Power Company.

Japan's 47 prefectures are broken up into eight regions, and each of these regions has one or two corresponding power providers. Hokuden provides for the Hokkaido prefecture, which comprises the large northern island of the same name. Though it is technically part of the Kyushu region, the Okinawan islands, or Okinawa prefecture, are served by Okinawa Electric Power Company Incorporated (TYO:9511) (OEPC) (Urazoe, Japan). The remaining 45 prefectures are split among eight other power providers.

Tokuden:

• Tohoku region, northern Honshu Island
• Prefectures served: Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, Yamagata

TEPCO:

• Kanto region; northeastern Honshu Island, south of Tohoku region
• Prefectures served: Tochigi, Gunma, Tokyo, Ibaraki, Saitama, Kanagawa, eastern Shizuoka, Yamanashi (Note: Shizuoka and Yamanashi are technically part of Chubu region)

Chuden:

• Shinetsu and Tokai areas of Chubu region; central Honshu Island, west of Kanto
• Prefectures served: Niigata, Nagano, western Shizuoka, Aichi, southern Gifu, Mie (Note: Mie is technically part of Kansai region)

Hokuriku Electric Power Company Incorporated (TYO:9505) (Rikuden) (Toyama, Japan):

• Hokuriku area of Chubu region; central Honshu Island, west of Kanto region
• Prefectures served: Toyama, northern Fukui, Ishikawa, northwestern Gifu

Kanden:

• Kansai region; central Honshu Island, west of Chubu region
• Prefectures served: Mie, Osaka, Shiga, Kyoto, Wakayama, Hyogo, Nara

Chugoku Electric Power Company Incorporated (TYO:9504) (Chugoku Electric) (Hiroshima, Japan):

• Chugoku region; western Honshu Island
• Prefectures served: Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Shimane, Tottori, Okayama

Kyushu Electric Power Company Incorporated (TYO:9508) (Kyuden) (Fukuoka, Japan):

• Kyushu region; Kyushu Island, west of Honshu Island
• Prefectures served: Fukuoka, Saga, Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Oita, Kagoshima, Miyazaki

Shikoku Electric Power Company Incorporated (TYO:9507) (Yonden) (Takamatsu, Japan):

• Shikoku region; Shikoku Island, south of Honshu Island
• Prefectures served: Ehime, Tokushima, Kagawa, Kochi

In Japan, voltage is carried from remote power stations by HVDC, which is extremely useful in carrying power over long distances to grids without losing too much capacity. Globally, the two most common frequencies for voltage are 50 hertz (Hz) and 60 Hz, and a country typically will use one frequency throughout all of its power providers. But Japan is at a disadvantage, because the country is split in half in regards to Hz. The western half of Japan, provided for by OEPC, Yonden, Kyuden, Chugoku Electric, Kanden, Chuden, and Rikuden, uses 60 Hz, while the eastern half of Japan, provided for by TEPCO, Tokuden, and Hokuden, operates on 50 Hz.

This 10-Hz discrepancy between eastern and western Japan arose in the late 1800s, beginning when the now defunct Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG) (Frankfurt, Germany) installed its first 50-Hz generator in Tokyo in 1895. The next year, General Electric (NYSE:GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut) installed its first 60-Hz generator in Osaka, and from then on, the east and west developed separate grids.

These separate grids meet at four different HVDC back-to-back converter stations, which are along the "border" between eastern and western Japan; the Sakuma Dam converter station in the Aichi prefecture; the Higashi-Shimizu converter station in the Shizuoka prefecture; the Minami-Fukumitsu converter station in the Toyama prefecture; and the Shin Shinano converter station in the Nagano prefecture. Through these four converter stations, eastern and western Japan can effectively share only 1,500 MW, roughly the same amount of power provided by one advanced boiling water reactor.

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