2 Impact of Fukushima Nuclear Accident on Japanese
Energy Market
The Great East Japan Earthquake and following tsunami attack caused serious
damage to nuclear power plants together with other critical energy infrastructures
such as thermal power plants, oil refineries, and LNG import terminals in the broad
area of eastern Japan. Particularly the significant damage was put on the power
sector. Due to the sudden loss of 27 GW of power generation capacity in Japan
where the total capacity is 231 GW, power supply shortage became a profound
problem shortly after the earthquake. To resolve the power shortage, enormous
efforts were concentrated on incrementing the power generation capacity by
restarting aging and idle petroleum-fired power plant, while mandatory power
saving was implemented to cope with insufficient power supply. In order to cover
the electricity supply loss caused by the earthquake, urgent measures were conducted to maximize the utilization of natural gas (LNG)-fired and petroleum-fired
power plants, including the aging idled power plants. In the demand side, rolling
blackouts were implemented from March to April in Tokyo/Kanto area in 2011, and
then the government ordered compulsory curtailment in power usage from July,
2011 to treat the peak power load in summer for the first time since the oil crisis in
1970s. Due to those measures, no critical unplanned blackouts were implemented
during the summer period immediately after the Fukushima accident. However,
thereafter, all of 50 nuclear power reactors shut down in Japan due to their regulatory inspection. After the Fukushima, there has remained strong concerns over the
safety of nuclear power plant in the public, and the local authority which holds
nuclear power plants in their sites does not easily provide an official permissions for
those restarts. At last, on August 11, 2015, Sendai nuclear power reactor in Kyushu
Electric Power Company restarted its operation, which is the first case of the restart
since 2013. However, the nuclear shutdown has still influenced the power supply
mix in Japan.
2.1 Trend of Energy Mix After Fukushima
After Fukushima, national concerted efforts to maximize the usage of thermal
power generation as well as electricity saving have contributed to prevent the
occurrence of power shortage. LNG-fired power plants and petroleum-fired power
plants, which serves regularly as middle-peak power generator, operate so as to
compensate the loss of nuclear power which is responsible for base load in power
load profile. It should be also noted that power utility companies attempt to newly
build thermal power capacity as well as to bring very aging power plants back on
line.
The Fukushima nuclear accident triggered the shutdown of the country’s entire
nuclear power plants, which accounted for 30 percent of the country’s electricity
Considering Nuclear Accident …
99
Energy Market
The Great East Japan Earthquake and following tsunami attack caused serious
damage to nuclear power plants together with other critical energy infrastructures
such as thermal power plants, oil refineries, and LNG import terminals in the broad
area of eastern Japan. Particularly the significant damage was put on the power
sector. Due to the sudden loss of 27 GW of power generation capacity in Japan
where the total capacity is 231 GW, power supply shortage became a profound
problem shortly after the earthquake. To resolve the power shortage, enormous
efforts were concentrated on incrementing the power generation capacity by
restarting aging and idle petroleum-fired power plant, while mandatory power
saving was implemented to cope with insufficient power supply. In order to cover
the electricity supply loss caused by the earthquake, urgent measures were conducted to maximize the utilization of natural gas (LNG)-fired and petroleum-fired
power plants, including the aging idled power plants. In the demand side, rolling
blackouts were implemented from March to April in Tokyo/Kanto area in 2011, and
then the government ordered compulsory curtailment in power usage from July,
2011 to treat the peak power load in summer for the first time since the oil crisis in
1970s. Due to those measures, no critical unplanned blackouts were implemented
during the summer period immediately after the Fukushima accident. However,
thereafter, all of 50 nuclear power reactors shut down in Japan due to their regulatory inspection. After the Fukushima, there has remained strong concerns over the
safety of nuclear power plant in the public, and the local authority which holds
nuclear power plants in their sites does not easily provide an official permissions for
those restarts. At last, on August 11, 2015, Sendai nuclear power reactor in Kyushu
Electric Power Company restarted its operation, which is the first case of the restart
since 2013. However, the nuclear shutdown has still influenced the power supply
mix in Japan.
2.1 Trend of Energy Mix After Fukushima
After Fukushima, national concerted efforts to maximize the usage of thermal
power generation as well as electricity saving have contributed to prevent the
occurrence of power shortage. LNG-fired power plants and petroleum-fired power
plants, which serves regularly as middle-peak power generator, operate so as to
compensate the loss of nuclear power which is responsible for base load in power
load profile. It should be also noted that power utility companies attempt to newly
build thermal power capacity as well as to bring very aging power plants back on
line.
The Fukushima nuclear accident triggered the shutdown of the country’s entire
nuclear power plants, which accounted for 30 percent of the country’s electricity
Considering Nuclear Accident …
99