Japan Scrambles to Avoid Tokyo Blackout After Earthquake Stretches Grid

(Bloomberg) -- Japan is scrambling to keep the lights on in Tokyo on Tuesday, as snowy weather and power plant outages from last week’s earthquake put the nation’s capital at risk of blackouts.

The power situation across the Tokyo area is “extremely tight,” and there could be partial outages if the supply shortfall continues, according to an official at Tokyo Electric Power Co., who added that there currently isn’t a plan for rolling blackouts. The metropolis’ power supply is expected to fall short of demand in the evening, the country’s trade ministry warned. 

The ministry called for further power conservation efforts, saying that it might need to make stronger requests for users depending on the situation during the day. Households and businesses need to reduce power consumption as much as possible, Trade Minister Koichi Hagiuda said earlier, after the government issued its first-ever electricity supply alert for the Tokyo area. 

The country’s power supplies have been stretched thin since last week’s strong earthquake, which struck in the northeast and took several power plants offline. Japan has very limited power reserves, as utilities retire older oil-powered plants and most nuclear reactors remain shut after the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

Central parts of Tokyo could see up to a centimeter of snow in the next 24 hours, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency announcement. Western, more mountainous parts of Tokyo could see between 3 to 5 centimeters of snow, the agency said. 

Japan has ordered nearly all of the nation’s regional utilities to send spare power supplies to the Tokyo area, according to a statement from the grid coordinator on Tuesday. Tepco is to receive as much as 1.4 gigawatts from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time on Tuesday, it said. 

Tepco expects to see peak demand at around 4 to 5 p.m. local time, it said on its website. The company sees power demand outstripping supply, with reserves falling as low as -4.8% on Tuesday. A prolonged drop below 1% could trigger rolling blackouts. 

The grid coordinator also ordered power sharing for Tohoku Electric Power Co., which services the area next to Tokyo and is facing a similar power crunch. Tohoku Electric expects to see reserves drop to as low as 0%, and has also asked its users to conserve power.  

JFE Holdings Inc.’s steel-making unit has been asked by Tepco to conserve electricity and increase output from its own power generation facilities in Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures, a spokesperson said on Tuesday. The company has not been asked to reduce production and will maintain operations and delivery, the spokesperson said. 

Tepco has also asked Nippon Steel Corp. to boost output at its power generation facilities, which are now operating at full capacity, a spokesperson for the steel company said. 　　

(Updates with Tokyo snow forecast, power sharing information and comment from Nippon Steel.)

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