TOKYO : Japan's biggest power generator JERA said on Thursday it had won auctions by local power grid companies to provide extra electricity during this winter to make up for any shortfall.
The public auction was held to secure additional power supply capacity of up to 1.7 gigawatts in eastern Japan and up to 1.9 GW in western Japan for the period of Jan. 4 to Feb. 28 to ensure stable electricity supply. Electricity supply in Japan is predicted to become tight during winter, with estimated excess capacity declining below a threshold of 3 per cent in seven out of 10 regions in January and February, including the Tokyo area.
JERA will restart five liquefied natural gas -fired power generation units, which have been mothballed, with total capacity of about 2.4 GW. They include the No.5 unit at its Anegasaki thermal power station, near Tokyo. JERA said in June it had started preparation work to restart an aged power generation unit at the Anegasaki station to help the region avoid a power crunch during the peak winter demand season.