Japan utilities August power output up 13.8 pct y/y

Japan's power utilities generated 13.8 per cent more electricity in August than a year earlier as the hottest summer on record spurred consumers to crank up their air conditioners, industry data showed on Thursday. Preliminary data released by the Electric Power System Council of Japan (EPSCJ) showed the utilities' power generation totalled 96.82 billion kilowatt hours in August, when some power companies set new records for peak power generation. The Japan Meteorological Agency said this week that Japan's average temperature over the June-August period was the highest since it started collecting data in 1898, exceeding the previous record in 1994.

In July, the 10 power utilities generated 90.72 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, up 7.9 per cent from a year earlier as the heat wave boosted use of air conditioners, in line with expectations of an 8.3 per cent rise based on Reuters calculations from council data. The council, established in 2004, is a private organisation for users of the country's power grid. Japan's 10 main power utilities, including Asia's No 1 power producer Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc, are the country's sole grid operators. Other grid users include independent power producers, such as Diamond Power Co, a Mitsubishi Corp subsidiary. The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan is due to release its more closely watched preliminary data on September 10 for the 10 power utilities' August power generation and fuel usage.