ID :
167841
Sun, 03/13/2011 - 19:18
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Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/167841
The shortlink copeid
Tokyo Electric to ration power to avoid blackout in Tokyo area
TOKYO, March 13 Kyodo - Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sunday it will embark on an unprecedented planned rationing of power in its service areas from Monday to prevent Tokyo and nearby prefectures from experiencing massive blackouts in the wake of Friday's powerful earthquake that hit Japan and crippled some of its nuclear power plants.
The announcement came after industry minister Banri Kaieda said Japan's quake-hit eastern and northeastern areas may fall into an ''abnormal'' situation involving a shortage in electricity supply and urged large companies to limit electricity use.
Officials of TEPCO said that the planned region-specific outage would last until the end of April, even affecting traffic signals and some train operations, while adding that it plans to exclude from the areas subject to the measure the central Tokyo area where the country's core functions exist -- namely Chuo, Chiyoda and Minato wards.
Masataka Shimizu, president of TEPCO, stressed that his ''biggest duty is to ensure the safety of the (quake-hit) Fukushima nuclear power plants,'' and denied the possibility of resigning for the time being over the ongoing nuclear crisis the country faces.
The company's service area covers Tokyo, Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, Tochigi, Yamanashi and part of Shizuoka prefectures.
According to TEPCO, the suspension of electricity on Monday will be implemented from 6:20 a.m. to 10 p.m. in various parts of Tokyo, and eight other prefectures, which are divided into five groups. Each power suspension would last for about three hours, and some groups are expected to experience the outage twice on Monday.
Kaieda said TEPCO's power supply to its service area will be short by 10 million kilowatts per day as a result of the devastating earthquake.
He also told a press conference earlier in the day, ''As companies and others will start economic activities...from tomorrow and afterward, there is a high possibility that the service areas of Tokyo Electric and Tohoku Electric Power Co. will face an abnormal situation in which a great deal of supply shortage will occur.''
About 27 percent of TEPCO's total power generation capacity relies on three nuclear power stations located in Fukushima and Niigata prefectures. Some 45 million people live in TEPCO's service area.
It is difficult to offset the shortage by receiving electricity from other utility companies because Tohoku Electric's facilities have also suffered damage and electric power frequency differs in western Japan.
Tohoku Electric plans to announce its measures to deal with the expected power shortage in its service area, including a planned outage, on Monday or later.
The announcement came after industry minister Banri Kaieda said Japan's quake-hit eastern and northeastern areas may fall into an ''abnormal'' situation involving a shortage in electricity supply and urged large companies to limit electricity use.
Officials of TEPCO said that the planned region-specific outage would last until the end of April, even affecting traffic signals and some train operations, while adding that it plans to exclude from the areas subject to the measure the central Tokyo area where the country's core functions exist -- namely Chuo, Chiyoda and Minato wards.
Masataka Shimizu, president of TEPCO, stressed that his ''biggest duty is to ensure the safety of the (quake-hit) Fukushima nuclear power plants,'' and denied the possibility of resigning for the time being over the ongoing nuclear crisis the country faces.
The company's service area covers Tokyo, Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Saitama, Tochigi, Yamanashi and part of Shizuoka prefectures.
According to TEPCO, the suspension of electricity on Monday will be implemented from 6:20 a.m. to 10 p.m. in various parts of Tokyo, and eight other prefectures, which are divided into five groups. Each power suspension would last for about three hours, and some groups are expected to experience the outage twice on Monday.
Kaieda said TEPCO's power supply to its service area will be short by 10 million kilowatts per day as a result of the devastating earthquake.
He also told a press conference earlier in the day, ''As companies and others will start economic activities...from tomorrow and afterward, there is a high possibility that the service areas of Tokyo Electric and Tohoku Electric Power Co. will face an abnormal situation in which a great deal of supply shortage will occur.''
About 27 percent of TEPCO's total power generation capacity relies on three nuclear power stations located in Fukushima and Niigata prefectures. Some 45 million people live in TEPCO's service area.
It is difficult to offset the shortage by receiving electricity from other utility companies because Tohoku Electric's facilities have also suffered damage and electric power frequency differs in western Japan.
Tohoku Electric plans to announce its measures to deal with the expected power shortage in its service area, including a planned outage, on Monday or later.
