An air of uncertainty surrounds eastern Japan as energy supplies are now at risk after the earthquake. The man from Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) slumped wearily into a chair and reached for a cup of coffee. Since the earthquake struck on March 11, he has been living on just a few hours of sleep a day.
Tepco, the villain of Japan's nuclear crisis, is fighting battles on all fronts – to stop radiation leaking from the crippled Daiichi plant; to remain solvent in the face of mounting compensation and decommissioning costs; and, perhaps most crucially for Japan's economy, to keep power flowing to Tokyo.
All hands are on the pump, the Tepco man said, and happily the news is good so far. The company has managed to purchase power from factories equipped with power generators, and has brought some "grandfather" thermal oil plants back to life. A target of 46.5GW of capacity has been raised to 50GW.
Despite relatively high prices for electricity by global standards, Japan has grown used to a surplus of power in the past two decades. As its population remained unchanged between 1990 and 2009, monopolies like Tepco encouraged more energy use. In turn, electricity consumption rose nearly 35pc over the period.
Now there is a sudden shortage and no-one knows what will happen when the summer arrives and Tokyo switches on millions of air conditioners. A few years ago, a freak hot summer sent demand soaring up to 60GW, which would leave Tepco some 16pc short. (read more)
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