Japan secures 1 GW power supply, weighs measures for another 500 MW for winter

Japan has secured about 1 GW of power supply capacity after its latest review of scheduled maintenance in the Tokyo area for January-February 2022 but it still needs to find ways to secure another 500 MW supply capacity amid severe winter supply outlook.

The latest winter supply capacity, which was presented during June 15 meeting of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's power and gas policy subcommittee, showed that the Tokyo area has secured a power supply capacity of 1.01 GW for January as well as 920 MW for February after utilities coordinated their scheduled maintenance with contractors.

The move came after METI had said in the May 25 subcommittee that it was coordinating rescheduling power plant maintenance over January-February to other months in its response to the Tokyo area having not secured a 3% reserve power supply capacity ratio for winter.

Japanese power utilities must have the 3% reserve power supply capacity ratio, which is based on the 10-year high demand over supply capacity, during the peak demand months to ensure stable supply, compared with 8% required for normal supply.

Despite the 3% reserve power supply capacity ratio requirement, the Tokyo area had expected to see its reserve power supply capacity ratio of minus 0.2% for January and minus 0.3% for February, according to the state power coordinator, the Organization for the Cross-regional Coordination of Transmission Operators, or OCCTO.

Needing 500 MW

OCCTO had estimated that the Tokyo area requires about 1.5 GW of an additional power supply capacity over January-February to secure the 3% reserve power supply capacity ratio. This means that the Tokyo area still needs another 500 MW of supply capacity for the months after securing 1 GW of the supply capacity.

In its efforts to secure the additional supply capacity, METI said it has requested independent power generators in the Tokyo area to cooperate in its measures, including preparing to actively supply electricity to the wholesale electricity market. However, METI said it has not been able to arrange any specific supply capacity from the request in winter.

Amid uncertainty over securing the additional 500 MW power supply capacity, METI proposed at the June 15 subcommittee to consider a general electricity transmission and distribution utility run pubic tenders to secure supply capacity including possibly from JERA's mothballed 600 MW Anegasaki gas-fired unit as well as from capacities held by independent power generators.

The ministry said it will also consider a detailed framework to collect additional costs, incurring from such measures as restarting mothballed units, from electricity retailers.

METI is considering a series of measures for Japan's severe winter power supply outlook as the country experienced a serious power supply shortage last winter because of high demand during extreme cold spells in January. Local power utilities were forced to restrict gas-fired power generation due to a fall in LNG stocks.