Japan’s 13 month maintenance schedule shutting down most of the remaining reactors and Germany could face blackouts with nuclear exit

1. Only 11 nuclear reactors will be operating in Japan with a combined power generation capacity of 9.864 GW in early September, which represents 20% of the country’s total installed capacity of 48.96 GW spread over 54 reactors according to Platts calculations Tuesday.

Platts calculations were made as Japan’s Kyushu Electric and Shikoku Electric are scheduled to shut two nuclear reactors in western Japan in early September.

Japan’s Kyushu Electric said Tuesday it plans to start three-month-long scheduled maintenance at its 890 MW No.2 Sendai nuclear power plant in the country’s southwest on September 1.

This is in response to Japanese regulations that require nuclear power plants to carry out scheduled maintenance at their reactors at least once every 13 months.

If none of the nuclear reactors are allowed to restart in the coming months, Japan is scheduled to lose its nuclear output completely in April or May 2012 because of the Japanese regulation that requires nuclear power plants to carry out scheduled maintenance at their reactors at least once every 13 months.

2. Germany’s accelerated exit from nuclear energy has considerably increased the risk of power blackouts, the country’s energy-network regulator said Wednesday, calling on the industry to invest in new energy infrastructure to ensure security of supply.

The Federal Network Agency, known as the Bundesnetzagentur, said bringing forward the country’s planned gradual exit from all nuclear power to the end of 2022—which includes the immediate and permanent closure of eight reactors—requires using all available power-production reserves to help balance power demand and supply to stabilize grids.

one of the seven reactors shut down in the immediate wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan was considered to fill a power supply gap. However, they have decided to just use more fossil fuels

A paper reported that over €163 million ($229.3 million) is to go toward subsidizing the construction of coal- and natural gas-fired power plants in both 2013 and 2014. The money, generated by the trade in CO2 emissions certificates, is reportedly to come out of a fund originally earmarked to finance projects aimed at promoting energy efficiency

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