For the first time in seven years, the Japanese government has introduced electricity rationing, urging households and businesses to wisely reduce consumption during the summer.
This is due to calculations that in the event of extreme heat in almost all regions of the country, except for Okinawa in the south and Hokkaido in the north, the power reserve can be as low as 3.7%, while it is considered critical at the 3% range.
The rationing system allows the use of air conditioners and other electrical appliances to avoid heat stroke, but electricity consumption must be reduced for secondary purposes – billboards, lighting and TV display in stores and shop windows, etc.
Tokyo and eight other prefectures have been on alert for four days since Monday for power grid overload due to the June heat wave. In those days, temperatures up to 40 degrees Celsius were recorded in a number of regions. On Thursday, a record temperature for June was recorded in Tokyo – above 36 degrees.
Problems with electricity supply arose against the backdrop of high energy prices, low production at thermal power plants in light of plans to switch to “clean” forms of energy, and growing concerns about the stability of electricity supply.
Source: RIA Novosti