Mothballed Hydropower Stations to Be Restarted to Compensate for Lack of Electricity in Tokyo Electric Area

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources East Asia (Kofu-shi, Japan)--To meet electric power demands, Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) (Tokyo) has announced that it will reopen five closed hydropower plants.

One of the stations belongs to East Japan Railway Company (TYO:9020) (JR East) (Tokyo) and is located along the Shinano River in Niigata prefecture. The remaining four, Shiobara (Tochigi prefecture), Shinanogawa (Niigata prefecture), Kiyotsugawa-Yuzawa (Niigata prefecture) and Uonogawa-Ishiuchi (Niigata prefecture), belong to Tokyo Electric Power Company Incorporated (TYO:9501) (TEPCO) (Tokyo, Japan).

The Shiobara plant was shut down for unlicensed operation in 2007. However after the earthquake, all accrued punishment was lifted, and TEPCO was given special permission by MLIT to bring the power station back into operation. TEPCO and JR East were given permission to reduce river capacity in order to generate power for electrical demand.

The five hydropower stations are expected to bring 360 megawatts of power online and will be able to provide electricity for at least 120,000 homes throughout TEPCO's service area.

On Sunday, TEPCO announced that it would be unable to sufficiently provide electricity to its service area due to a compromised electrical infrastructure and the loss of several key power stations, including Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station and Fukushima Daini nuclear power station. TEPCO's service area includes Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures, as well as the Kanto region of Japan, which is comprised of Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa, Gunma, Tochigi, Saitama and Ibaraki prefectures.

As a result of insufficient electrical capacity, the company broke its service area into five groups that are currently undergoing scheduled power outages in specified time blocks. TEPCO typically provides for a daily 40-gigawatt (GW) power demand from these areas, but announced on Sunday that it would only be able to provide approximately 20 GW and called on residents, businesses, and industries alike to cooperate in conserving power to aid in power outages.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.