The operator of the largest coal-fired power plant in Hokkaido said Tuesday it has delayed until the next day the restart of a generator that was damaged in a recent quake due to the need for further preparation work.
The restart of the No. 1 unit at Hokkaido Electric Power Co.'s Tomatoatsuma plant would allay concern about another power crisis on the northern main island, which temporarily suffered a complete blackout following the Sept. 6 quake.
Hokkaido Electric said preparations were taking longer than expected and it now expects to restart the generator around 9 a.m. Wednesday or later.
The three-unit plant generates 1.65 million kilowatts of electricity when fully operational, but it was forced to shut when the magnitude 6.7 quake struck, damaging a boiler and sparking a small fire.
Hokkaido Electric Vice President Yutaka Fujii said at a press conference that the plant's No. 1 unit will allow the company, in combination with output from other facilities, to supply a total of 3.91 million kw to Japan's northernmost main island.
Hokkaido's peak demand the day before the quake was 3.83 million kw.
(Hokkaido Electric Power Vice President Yutaka Fujii)
Initially, Hokkaido Electric planned to reboot the 350,000-kw No. 1 unit at the end of September or later but was able to expedite the restart as damage was less extensive than feared, allowing repair work to be completed quickly.
"I want to apologize for causing great trouble after the power supply was cut across Hokkaido," Fujii said, while calling for the public to continue efforts to conserve power.
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko told reporters that the government will launch a third-party panel on Friday to look into the causes of the power outage.
Also on Tuesday, the elementary, junior high and high schools reopened in the hardest-hit town of Atsuma as well as in the neighboring towns of Mukawa and Abira, meaning all schools in Hokkaido are open again after the quake.
But it is likely to take some time for school life to return to normal as three of the five schools that reopened in Atsuma are continuing to serve as evacuation centers.
Kenji Nambara, the principal of Atsuma High School, said he hoped students would keep Maika Takimoto in their hearts, a 16-year-old student who lost her life in the quake.
"She was a happy girl who was always surrounded by her friends," he said.
The town began providing temporary public housing for evacuees and is set to survey the damage suffered at the approximately 5,000 homes of its residents.
The earthquake caused massive landslides and claimed the lives of 41 people across Hokkaido with 681 others suffering injuries. Nearly 1,400 remained in evacuation centers as of last Friday.
Blackout hit Hokkaido despite emergency power interchange system
No rolling power blackouts needed at this point in quake-hit Hokkaido
