Tohoku Electric Power Co. has almost reached its limit to provide electricity and is desperately trying to secure power supply support from other utilities, sources said.
Tohoku Electric Power Co. has almost reached its limit to provide electricity and is desperately trying to secure power supply support from other utilities, sources said.
Despite receiving an emergency electricity supply from Tokyo Electric Power Co. twice on Aug. 8, the maximum power consumption within Tohoku Electric's service area on that day, which hit this summer's record 12.33 gigawatts, reached 96.6 percent of the amount the utility can supply, leaving only about a 3 percent margin.
The utility's 29 hydro power plants in Niigata and Fukushima were severely damaged by a heavy storm in late July. With the prospect for restoring the plants remaining uncertain, there are growing fears of rolling blackouts being implemented if temperatures continue to soar.
The weather was clear and hot in Fukushima and Yamagata prefectures on Aug. 8, which resulted in higher use of air conditioners.
The utility had initially planned to receive a power supply of 600 megawatts from TEPCO, totaling 12.26 gigawatts of Tohoku Electric's power supply on that day.
With the rise in temperatures, Tohoku Electric received an extra 200 megawatts in the morning and 300 megawatts in the afternoon from TEPCO. Thus, the total provided by TEPCO came to 1.1 gigawatts, including the amount that was initially scheduled to be supplied to TEPCO by Hokkaido Electric Power Co.
The suspension at the hydro power plants has reduced Tohoku Electric's ability to provide power by about 1 gigawatt. Power consumption was estimated at a maximum of 12.5 gigawatts on Aug. 9, while the utility's power supply should total 13.03 gigawatts, including the provision of up to 1.4 gigawatts by TEPCO, leaving a 4.2 percent margin.
Citing the current emergency situation, Tohoku Electric is calling for further efforts to conserve electricity.