Tokyo Electric Optimistic About On-Time Start for Hirono Unit 6, Despite Five-Month Delay

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Workers on Unit 6 of Japan's Hirono power station, which is owned and operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company Incorporated (TYO:9501) (TEPCO) (Tokyo) and is located in Japan's Fukushima prefecture, are pushing full-steam ahead to have it constructed and ready for test runs by July of next year. Getting Unit 6 online means a more stable power supply, which is vital for the ongoing recovery of the region.

Unit 6 had its construction halted for five months following the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, due to the station's proximity to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power stations, which also are owned and operated by TEPCO. Following the disaster, mandatory evacuation perimeters were set up around both nuclear power stations, and Hirono happens to be located within Daiichi's perimeter. Once the restrictions were lifted, workers were allowed back on the site to clean up the mess left by the earthquake and tsunami, which shut down units 2 and 4, which were running at the time of the incident.

The Hirono power station is powered by imported coal and fuel oil. The coal is brought in by ship at an off-site facility known as the Onahama Coal Center, which is owned and operated by TEPCO.

The station currently has five units with a total name-plate capacity of 3,800 megawatts (MW). Units 1 through 4 are oil-fired, while Unit 5 is coal-fired. Unit 6 also will be coal-fired and will add another 600 MW of power to the station.

The year before the Great East Japan Earthquake, TEPCO commenced construction on Unit 6 at the Hirono station. As a result of the earthquake and ensuing tsunami, much of Japan's electrical infrastructure, nuclear and non-nuclear alike, was knocked offline. Since then, Japan has lost the use of all but two of its nuclear fleet of 54 reactors, which made up roughly 35% of its energy. This has led to instability in Japan's power supply, initially causing rolling blackouts and now prompting power companies and local governments alike to call for consumers to take power-saving measures. Unstable power supply in industry has proven to be a major economic concern for the island nation as a whole, as well as the Tohoku region in northeast Japan, which bore the brunt of the tsunami and earthquake.

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