Tokyo area power demand surpassing 10-year high on heat wave: TEPCO

TEPCO Power Grid said that the Tokyo area is experiencing the highest power demand so far this summer on Aug. 2 in the midst of heat wave, when it is surpassing the 10-year-high power demand of 57.52 GW.

At 03:50 pm local time (0650 GMT) Aug. 2, its electricity consumption stood at 58.46 GW, according to preliminary data from TEPCO Power Grid.

The Tokyo area's electricity facility utilization rate is forecast to peak 96% at 04:00-05:00 pm on Aug. 2, when Tokyo area's power demand was forecast to peak at 59.29 GW, or 92% of the supply capacity over 02:00-03:00 pm local time Aug. 2, according to TEPCO forecasts.

The Japan Electric Power Exchange extended gains Aug. 2, marking its 24-hour day-ahead price at Yen 40.37/kWh for Aug. 3, up 21.6% from Yen 33.20/kWh the previous day.

JEPX marked the day-ahead daytime (8 am-10 pm Japan Standard Time) price at Yen 53.60/kWh, up 24.8% from Yen 42.95/kWh the previous day, with the day-ahead peak having risen 5.9% to 51.67/kWh from Yen 48.81/kWh.

JERA restarted on July 30 the 1.1882-GW No. 7-1 combined cycle gas-fired units at the Nishi Nagoya thermal power plant after shutting it July 25 due to the leakage of lubricant oil at a pipe of the turbine.

Restarting plants

Japan's largest power generation company JERA was to restart its 243 MW No. 3-7 and No. 3-1 combined cycle gas-fired units at the Kawagoe thermal power plant Aug. 1 after shutdowns due to a glitch, the company said in filings to the Hatsuden Joho Kokai System.

The restarts came after the No. 3-7 combined cycle gas-fired unit was shut at 7:18 am local time (2218 GMT) Aug. 1 following the shutdown of the No. 3-1 combined cycle gas-fired unit at 11:38 pm local time July 31 as a result of a glitch at its turbine-related facility.

The shutdown of JERA's gas-fired units came amid an increasing number of outages and issues at power plants in recent weeks in the midst of Japan's peak summer power demand season.

JERA also shut the 162 MW No. 2-7 combined cycle gas-fired units at the Futtsu thermal power plant at 7:25 am Aug. 2 because of a glitch at a boiler-related facility but it was to be restarted later in the day, the company said in its filing to the HJKS.

The company also shut the 854 MW No. 2 gas-fired unit at the Chita Daini thermal power plant at 6:30 pm local time Aug. 1 for an inspection at a turbine-related facility, it said in its HJKS filing, without providing timelines for restart.

LNG stocks

LNG stocks held by Japan's major power utilities rose 16.5% week on week to 2.26 million mt July 24, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said July 27, marking the first week-on-week rise in six weeks.

The LNG stocks rose for the first time since June 12 after remaining stable in the week to July 17 and a fourth consecutive week-on-week declines to July 10.

METI does not have comparable July 24 data for the previous year. However, at end July 2021, inventory stood 2.26 million mt, while the four-year average for end July was 2.03 million mt.