Tohoku steps up gas-fired power output as quake shuts nuke units

Tokyo (Platts)--17Aug2005

Tohoku Electric Power Co cranked up electricity generation at the LNG-fired
1.09-mil kW No 3 unit at its Higashi Niigata thermal power plant immediately
after an automatic shutdown of its three nuclear reactors triggered by a major
earthquake in northern Japan Tuesday, a company official said Wednesday. The
powerful earthquake, which measured 6.8 on the Richter scale, shut all three
of Tohoku's nuclear power production units with a total generating capacity of
2.174-mil kW at the Onagawa plant. The company also boosted generation at its
460,000 kW No 2 Numazawa hydropower plant after the quake. "We can overcome
the lack of nuclear power generation by boosting output at the two power
plants for now because electricity demand luckily is slower than average in
August due to the Obon holiday," the official said. The industrial sector,
especially the manufacturing industry, take several days off around mid-August
for the traditional "Obon" holiday.

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