Japan Faces Voluntary Power Saving or Rolling Blackouts

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Japanese government has requested reduced power consumption from domestic households and commercial businesses that receive power supplies from six power utilities in the central and western regions of the country. The possibility of power cuts in the hot months of summer is also affected by the options on the future re-booting schedule of the country's 50 nuclear power reactors, following the Fukushima shutdown. So far, one nuclear power plant has come online, but the current supply is about 20% below normal demand.

The voluntary reduction in consumption requested from homes and businesses by the government ranges from 5% to 15%, based on summer 2010 levels. The power-saving initiative goes through to September 7. On July 23, a 7% reduction regime will be applied in northern Japan on Hokkaido Island, which has a more temperate climate.

On Monday of this week, the suspension of operations at Kansai Electric Power's thermal power station at Himejhi in western Japan, which was caused by a steam leak, put pressure on power saving in the area, which has been requested to cut consumption by 15%. It may be 10 days before the plant begins operations, which could raise the estimated power demand in the area from 81% of capacity to 86%.

Although no penalty is threatened on domestic and business consumers who do not meet the power-saving standards, the government has said that rolling blackouts will be ordered if demand reaches 99% of available supply.

Before the outcomes of the Fukushima disaster hit the country's power supplies, nuclear power had supplied about 33% of the country's requirements. Japan's installed power capacity (pre-Fukushima) was estimated at more than 280,000 megawatts.

For related information, see June 14, 2012, article - TEPCO's Fossil Fuel Usage Sets Records, Qatar Helps Stabilize LNG Supply.

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