Striving to mitigate the risk of blackouts, JERA has put in place emergency measures to keep LNG flowing to keep system-critical power stations operational.
“We have multiple measures to maintain a stable supply even if the infection spreads,” the Japanese financial daily Nikkei cited a JERA official. “If commuting becomes too risky, employees will sleep at the power station.”
Shipments with LNG cargoes still arriving “constantly”, he said but admitted if a few shipments were to be missed this could herald “an extended [electricity] cut-off.”
Nuclear gives no leeway
Japan has already faced a power shortage this year, and given that the number of nuclear power stations in operation is set to fall from nine to four or five, Japanese utilities have little leeway as they cannot rely on nuclear baseload power.
Tokyo Electric is understood to be rushing to restart its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture because the heavy concentration of LNG-fuelled power plants makes the region vulnerable in the event of gas supply shortages. Should gas stock run low, the region would be the first to experience power cuts.
Before the Fukushima disaster in March 2011, Japan had over 50 nuclear plants in operation but now has to make do with a tenth of that power. The Sendai reactor was shut down in March 2020 as it failed to meet anti-terrorism charges, Itaka nuclear unit 3 is offline due to a court injunction, and the Genkei reactor was shut after a contractor tested positive for the coronavirus.
Tokyo Bay heavily reliant on LNG
A stable supply of regasified LNG to operate gas-fired power units has become system-critical to keep the lights on, especially in Tokyo Bay which stretches around the prefectures of Chiba, Tokyo and Kanagawa. The highly industrialized region is Japan’s prime LNG hub and a centre of gas-fired power generation.
The LNG needs of these Tokyo area power plants account for 30% of Japan’s total gas-burn, producing 26 million kilowatts (kW) of electricity. Many of these gas power units are operated by JERA.