Kansai Electric Power Co. now faces the strong possibility of an electricity shortage this summer with the stoppage of operations on July 16 of the No. 1 reactor at its Oi nuclear power plant.
Kansai Electric Power Co. now faces the strong possibility of an electricity shortage this summer with the stoppage of operations on July 16 of the No. 1 reactor at its Oi nuclear power plant.
Because it was untouched by the Great East Japan Earthquake, Kansai Electric appeared at one time to be in a much better position than Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Tohoku Electric Power Co., which both suffered great damage from the March 11 quake and tsunami.
The disasters led many companies to shift production capability to western Japan, but the expected electricity shortage will put a crimp in those plans as well.
Kansai Electric officials announced on July 16 that the No. 1 reactor had stopped operations by about 9 p.m.
Operations had to be stopped due to a decrease in pressure in a tank that is used to cool the reactor core during emergencies.
The No. 1 reactor has the largest power generation capacity of any nuclear reactor operated by Kansai Electric at 1.175 million kilowatts.
Making matters worse for Kansai Electric is the fact that the No. 4 reactor at the Oi nuclear plant and the No. 4 reactor at its Takahama nuclear plant will also stop operations this week to undergo periodic inspections.
That will mean the loss of power generation capacity totaling about 3.2 million kilowatts. Because all three reactors will have to undergo stress tests before operations can be resumed, Kansai Electric will not be able to utilize those three reactors for a number of months.
Kansai Electric relies on nuclear energy to supply a large percentage of its electricity, but by next week seven of its 11 nuclear reactors will have stopped operations.
Kansai Electric is the latest electric power company to face problems with its nuclear reactors.
In addition to the disaster damage to reactors operated by TEPCO and Tohoku Electric, Chubu Electric Power Co. stopped operations of all reactors at its Hamaoka nuclear power plant after being asked to do so by Prime Minister Naoto Kan.
The various problems have also made it more difficult for electric power companies to transmit surplus electricity to those that need it.
While Kyushu Electric at one time had the ability to provide Kansai Electric with about 3 million kilowatts of electricity, that has become much more difficult now.
Kyushu Electric Power Co. has been unable to resume operations at its Genkai nuclear power plant after revelations that company employees sent e-mail messages in favor of nuclear energy in an attempt to manipulate public opinion.
Ironically, because TEPCO had taken measures to deal with the expected electricity shortage in its jurisdiction, including asking companies and households to conserve energy, some company officials are considering providing Kansai Electric with surplus electricity on days when electricity demand in the TEPCO area is lower.
However, such moves could lead to criticism from TEPCO customers who are encountering difficulties with their efforts to conserve energy.
Unless some measures are taken, Kansai Electric faces up to a 6.6 percent shortage in electricity supply in August. That is the equivalent to what two nuclear reactors can normally generate.
A high-ranking official of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said electric power companies will be asked if they can provide surplus electricity to Kansai Electric and that new forecasts for supply and demand of electricity this summer would be made over the next few days.
Because there is not enough time for the central government to issue an order to large-volume customers of Kansai Electric to reduce electricity usage, the only available option will be to ask companies and households to make efforts to conserve energy.
However, similar requests in the recent past have not had much effect.
The situation was not helped when Kansai Electric executives also came out with optimistic forecasts of being able to deal with the electricity situation this summer.
Those forecasts have now been rendered moot with the sudden stoppage of the reactor at the Oi plant.