Japan’s stressed grid to face test with Arctic blast due

• 3 years ago (2021-02-17)
• David Flin

Asia 892 Transmission 191

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Japan is set to receive another bout of cold weather from the Arctic in the next few days, which is likely to test the country’s already stressed electricity grid. Generators are already struggling to keep units running after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Fukushima in northern Japan last weekend. The earthquake briefly knocked out power for nearly 1 million people.

James Whistler, Global Head of Energy Derivatives at SSY said: “Japan’s weather is getting colder, with the forecast pushing demand up quite considerably into Thursday. Thursday’s load forecast is up 20 per cent on Monday, or about 10 GW.”

JERA , Japan’s biggest power generation company, said on 16 February that it had brough back online another of the units at its Hirono coal-fired power station that had been shut down by the earthquake.

The Japan Meteorological Agency has issued warning of snow-storms, blizzards, and high waves across much of northern, eastern, and western Japan. It said that blizzard conditions are expected to be the worst in several years.