Awwal 04, 1432 H / April 08, 2011, SPA -- Japan announced power reduction targets for Tokyo and north Japan that will require big manufacturers and other large-scale users to cut peak summer consumption by one-fourth as it vowed to avoid rolling blackouts that could hobble the economy, according to Reuters. The trade ministry also called for 20 percent power cuts by small-scale industrial power users served by quake-hit Tokyo Electric Power and Tohoku Electric Power , while household cuts were set at 15 to 20 percent, in draft proposals released on Friday. The government estimates that, with a particularly hot summer like last year's, peak power production could fall short of demand by as much as 18,300 MW in the two utilities' service area -- or about one-fourth of total demand -- after a massive March 11 quake and tsunami shut down several big nuclear and thermal power stations. With the reductions, to be implemented from July to September, the Tokyo area and northern Japan would in principle be able to avoid rolling blackouts, Trade Minister Banri Kaieda told a news conference, although that option would be held in reserve as a last resort to forestall an unexpected blackout for the entire service area if demand threatens to surpass supply. Tokyo Electric imposed rolling blackouts last month after the quake, which took out 23 percent of its generating capacity. The blackouts dealt a severe blow to activity in a region that generates 40 percent of GDP in the world's third-largest economy. "This curb in power demand must not lead to damage to Japan's economic activity," Kaieda said. "I hope firms in western Japan would boost their economic activity so that Japan's economy as a whole will not shrink." Companies may also shift some of their output abroad to meet the targets, said Shigeru Suehiro, senior economist at the Institution of Energy Economics, Japan. Tokyo Electric, still struggling with a prolonged safety crisis at its Fukushima nuclear complex, said on Friday that it would be able to meet power demand for the next two months, although just barely. The ministry's proposal requires big manufacturers to submit power-saving plans, such as adjustments to operating hours, and would subject them to modest penalties of 1 million yen ($12,000) if they fail to reach the targets. They could also be publicly identified as not meeting government requirements. The proposals, due to be finalised by the end of the month and Japan's first government-imposed power curbs since the 1974 oil crisis, would require the reductions on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., when air-conditioning use would be heaviest. Kaieda said the government was not considering raising electricity rates to curb demand.
