Facing blackout, Japan's Tepco asks other sectors for electricity

Relentless cold spell causes LNG demand surge while COVID delays hit supply

A gas-fired power plant in Futtsu City, Chiba Prefecture: LNG is in short supply across Japan.

TOKYO -- Tepco Power Grid, the transmission unit of Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings, has asked commodities companies with private power generation equipment to help it provide electricity, as Japan faces a power outage, Nikkei learned Wednesday.

A series of cold spells has caused a surge in demand for liquefied natural gas, or LNG, a fuel used to generate heat. As Japan faces a shortage of LNG, Tepco Power Grid is hoping to buy electricity from other industries, an unusual move that hints at a severe outlook, so that it can continue to supply its customers.

Major oil, steel and chemical companies have power generation facilities at some of their plants that they use to generate power for production activities. Tepco Power Grid has asked many companies with such facilities, including JFE Steel, Sumitomo Chemical and ENEOS Holdings, to sell it any surplus electricity. Tepco has also requested that they ramp up power generation to help it meet demand.

A spokesperson for JFE, which has power generation facilities in the cities of Kawasaki and Chiba, close to the capital, said the company will help as much as it possibly can.

This is not the first time that Tepco Power Grid has reached out for help. It procured electricity from other power-generation companies immediately after the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami in 2011. However, it is unusual for the company to procure electricity from companies outside of the industry.

Demand in the Kanto area including Tokyo and its neighboring prefectures has surged after a series of cold spells. Tepco Power Grid had already bought electricity from its peers such as Chubu Electric Power and Hokuriku Electric Power on Sunday and Monday.

The cold spell is expected to continue over the next few days and Tepco Power Grid now faces a shortfall. Across the country, power supply and demand is tight. Electricity demand in December was nearly 4% higher than a year ago, according to the Organization for Cross-regional Coordination of Transmission Operators, a group that oversees nationwide electricity supply and demand.

On the supply side, there is a nationwide shortage of LNG. The power transmission and distribution unit of Kansai Electric Power has also purchased electricity from other power companies.

Although LNG thermal power plants account for 40% of total power generated in Japan, the world's top buyer, the gas cannot be stored for a long time, which makes it difficult to increase output to meet sudden surges in demand.

There is also little option to procure LNG at short notice as a spot contract takes about two months to deliver. LNG producers in Australia and Malaysia have also had equipment failure lately which has led to tighter exports. Furthermore, LNG shipments from the U.S. have been delayed due to extra coronavirus prevention procedures.

As a result of this global shortage, LNG prices have been soaring. The price for LNG spot cargo in Asia is now at $14.6 per million British thermal units, up 80% from a month ago.

"Unlike the U.S. and Europe which can obtain gas through pipes, it is challenging for Japan as an island country to procure LNG in a short amount of time," said Junichi Ogasawara, senior research fellow at the Institute of Energy Economics in Japan.

Source: Nikkei Asia

Egypt: Entire ICU ward dies after oxygen supply fails

The tragedy has underscored the corruption and negligence at the heart of Egypt's ruling government

All coronavirus patients in an intensive care unit in Egypt have died after the oxygen supply to the ward failed.

Footage captured by one of the patient's relatives taken at El Husseineya Central Hospital in Ash Sharqia province has gone viral online.

The cameraman's aunt, Fatima Al-Sayed Mohamed Ibrahim, 66, was among the patients being treated at the quarantine centre.

The incident happened after the oxygen level was almost below two per cent and there was neither enough pressure nor enough oxygen to save the patients' lives.

It is the second such incident to occur after patients in the ICU at Zefta General Hospital suffered the same fate.

The tragedy has underscored the corruption and negligence at the heart of Egypt's ruling government.

Egypt's Heath Minister Hala Zayed claimed that the patients didn't die due to lack of oxygen and accused the Muslim Brotherhood of spreading rumours.

The Director of the hospital, Dr Muhammad Sami Al-Najjar, spoke in another video claiming that the situation was normal. He denied that there was a lack of oxygen. He said the patients had died from natural causes, from old age or other chronic diseases.

The Governor of Ash Sharqia, Dr Mamdouh Gorab, said four patients, rather than the whole ward, died.

There are unconfirmed reports on Facebook that the man who filmed the scene has been arrested after Gorab asked security forces to arrest those responsible for taping the incident.

Also trending was a picture of a nurse wearing her full scrubs, sitting on the floor in the corner of the unit, in shock at what was happening.

Reports have stated that the nurse was fined for "not working during hard times."

Source: MEMO

Electric cars rise to record 54% market share in Norway

Nordic country becomes first in the world where electric car sales outstrip those powered by other means

Photograph: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images

Norway became the first country in the world where the sale of electric cars has overtaken those powered by petrol, diesel and hybrid engines last year, with the German carmaker Volkswagen replacing Tesla as the top battery-vehicle producer, data shows.

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) made up 54.3% of all new cars sold in the Nordic country in 2020, a global record, up from 42.4% in 2019 and from a mere 1% of the overall market a decade ago, the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV) said.

Seeking to become the first nation to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2025, oil-producing Norway exempts fully electric vehicles from taxes imposed on those relying on fossil fuels.

The policy has turned the country’s car market into a laboratory for carmakers seeking a path to a future without internal combustion engines, vaulting new brands and models to the top of bestseller lists in recent years.

While the sale of BEVs had broken the 50% mark in individual months, 2020 was the first time that fully electric cars outsold the combined volume of models containing internal combustion engines for a year as a whole.

BEV sales accelerated in the final months of 2020, hitting their highest level for any single month in December, with a 66.7% share of the car market.

Volkswagen’s Audi brand topped the 2020 leaderboard with its e-tron sports utility and sportsback vehicles as the most sold new passenger cars in Norway last year, while Tesla’s mid-sized Model 3, the 2019 winner, was relegated to second place.

Electric vehicle sales are expected to continue to soar in 2021, according to industry analysts and car distributors, as more models are brought to the market.

“Our preliminary forecast is for electric cars to surpass 65% of the market in 2021,” said Christina Bu who heads the Norwegian EV Association, an interest group. “If we manage that, the goal of selling only zero-emission cars in 2025 will be within reach.“

Tesla’s mid-sized sports utility vehicle, the Model Y, is due to reach the Norwegian market this year, as are the first electric SUVs from Ford, BMW and Volkswagen.

By contrast, cars with diesel-only engines have tumbled from a peak of 75.7% of the overall Norwegian market in 2011 to just 8.6% last year.

New car sales in the country last year were 141,412, of which 76,789 were fully electric.

While the electric market share will keep rising, there is uncertainty around how many cars producers will allocate to Norway as European demand is increasing, said Harald Frigstad, the chief executive of the Norwegian car importer Bertel O Steen.

The seller of Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz as well as the Kia, Peugeot, Opel, Citroën, DS and Smart brands, predicted about 70% of its sales would be of fully electric models in 2021.

Source: The Guardian