Japan Press Weekly

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2012 April 25 - May 8 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Electric supply meets demand without reactivating NPPs: private research body

Electricity supply will be sufficient this summer even if all nuclear reactors in Japan are closed, an independent research group has recently announced.

In its report, the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies (ISEP) criticized an estimate the government released on April 23 that without reactivating offline nuclear reactors, electric power supply will be short by 0.4% this summer. It points out that the estimate was done based on an overestimate of peak electricity demand.

Reactivation of nuclear power plants should be discussed separately from the power supply-demand issue and be judged only after assessing their safety and reaching social consensus, the ISEP argued.

According to the institute, the peak power demand last summer decreased by 13% nationwide and by 18% in the area where Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) provides electricity thanks to power-saving efforts by businesses and households. As a result, no power shortage was witnessed even with 80% of nuclear reactors shut down, it reports.

It predicts that the same level of energy reduction as well as checkups at power-generating facilities will bring about an oversupply of electricity by more than 16% this summer without operating any nuclear power plants.

The ISEP proposes the introduction of supply-demand adjustment contracts and an hourly rate system as efficient ways to save energy.

The government has approved the reactivation of nuclear reactors at the Oi plant in Fukui Prefecture based on its estimate released on April 13 that their continued suspension will cause an 18.4% power shortage in the Kansai area this summer.

The government, however, has inexplicably readjusted the estimated figure of power shortage this month from 19.6% (April 9), 18.4% (13th), to 16.3% (23rd).

In an Asahi Shimbun poll published on April 16, 66% of respondents answered that they do not trust energy supply-demand estimates made by the government and electric companies.