September 2022 Regular Press Conference : President Hayashi's Message

• First, I will talk about electricity demand and supply this past summer.
• Though electricity demand and supply were projected to be very tight across Japan this summer, we were able to deliver electricity stably with the cooperation of households and companies in the Chubu area. We'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of our customers. Thank you.
• Now, I'd like to briefly look back on the developments in electricity demand and supply this summer. In early June, the Japanese government projected that demand and supply would be tight across Japan and called out to the public to save electricity.
• The Chubu Electric Power Group also set up an Electricity Demand and Supply Division headed by myself on June 17 in an effort to do everything possible to ensure stable supply and asked our customers to conserve energy to an extent they feel comfortable with from July to September.
• In late June, just as these measures were being put in place, electricity demand rose across the country due to record-breaking heat waves, and the Chubu area saw sudden increase in demand by more than 20% compared to mid-June.
• Temperatures in the Chubu area at the peak of summer from July to August generally followed yearly averages. However, in early August, temperatures rose briefly, hitting a 37.5°C high on August 2, pushing up the electricity demand for the Chubu area to 25,500 MW from 2 to 3 p.m., the highest instance this summer. At 4 p.m. on August 3, the next day, the reserve margin fell to 5.3%, the lowest for the summer.
  
• In response to this increase in demand, the Chubu Electric Power Group further increased supply capacity by increasing output from thermal power plants, starting Power I', the balancing capacity to adjust to rapid increases in demand due to heatwaves, and restarting Unit 5 of JERA's Chita Thermal Power Station which had been operating for more than 40 years and had been shut down in April 2022.
• In addition to these supply side efforts, on the demand side, we asked customers in the Chubu area to cut back on energy use, which the customers did.
• As part of efforts to encourage customers to cut back on energy use, Chubu Electric Power Miraiz debuted services that makes conserving electricity more accessible.
• In July, we started a demand-response services for household customers, NACHARGE, and the Family Time Project that encourages saving electricity while enjoying time with family.
• Since its launch till the end of September, NACHARGE has been used by 85,000 customers, saving 400 MWh of electricity, and the Family Time Project Energy Savings Challenge has been tried by 240,000 customers, saving 3,700 MWh of electricity.
• These measures were very effective: the 4,100 MWh saved through these measures is equivalent to a month's worth of electricity usage of 16,000 households.
• Thank you again to all those who participated.
• We believe that these demand and supply side measures helped us secure stable supply for the Chubu area and share power with other areas which were facing tighter supply and demand to contribute to stable supply on a national level.

(Electricity demand and supply forecast for this winter)

• The next topic is the electricity demand and supply forecast this winter.
• The grim demand and supply forecast announced in June has been updated to reflect changes in the power supply repair plans and the supply secured through the additional supply capacity public tender hosted together by 8 general transmission and distribution operators, including Chubu Electric Power Grid.
• At this point in time, we expect to be able to deliver electricity stably throughout the winter. Projections show we will have the minimum necessary 3% reserve margin even in January, when demand and supply are projected to be tightest.
• At the same time, electricity demand could increase due to societal structure changes from the effects of COVID-19 and sudden changes in temperature, and fuel procurement could face unforeseen issues with the effects of the War in Ukraine.
• To combat this, the Chubu Electric Power Group will continue to work to secure additional supply capacity, steadily operate and conduct maintenance on power plants and transmission and transformation facilities to ensure that the secured supply capacity will not decrease due to equipment malfunctions.
• We will expand our services in preparation for winter, introducing new energy saving services for households and expanding the demand-response service to corporate customers.
• Details are being discussed and will be announced when they are ready.
• The Chubu Electric Power Group will continue to do our utmost on both the demand and supply side and do our best to secure stable supply.

• The final topic is the Techno Fair held by the Research & Development Division.
• This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Techno Fair. Held every year to introduce the Chubu Electric Power's R&D initiatives. Over the years we have welcomed around 80,000 visitors.
• First, let me introduce the beating heart of R&D for the Chubu Electric Power Group, the Research & Development Division.
• Established in 1965, the Research & Development Division during the period of high economic growth of in the 1960s to the 1970s worked on R&D for increasing electricity demand and tackling pollution and other environmental problems, and since the 1990s has been working on updating equipment, maintaining and improving electricity quality and reducing electricity use. It has been supporting our energy business for over half a century.
• Recently, it has been working on R&D to contribute to the development of customers and society by creating new value to realize a carbon neutral society and to meet customer requests for increased comfort and convenience. 
• The Research & Development Division is currently comprised of 3 research laboratories that each works on research in their specialized field:
  • Electric Power Research & Development Center works on research for the stable supply of electricity
  • Advanced Research & Innovation Center creates a richer life for our customers and new business opportunities
  • Nuclear Safety Research & Development Center works on research to improve safety in nuclear power plants and to use nuclear power as an energy source
• The Nuclear Safety Research & Development Center was established within the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station premises in July 2012 in response to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident. This year marks its 10-year anniversary.
  The Center is working closely with the field to further improve nuclear safety and is conducting research on safe and smooth decommissioning. 
• In February 2022, the Research & Development Division formulated a R&D policy to realize the Chubu Electric Power Group Management Vision 2.0. The Division is advancing R&D in the seven priority areas outlined in the policy including expansion of renewable energy and expansion of the resource circulation business. The Techno Fair features mainly the research from those seven priority areas.
• Here, I will introduce two research projects that are the focus of the Techno Fair.
• One research project is on regional resource circulation on "sorghum", a plant in the grass family.
  Able to grow quickly in impoverished soil, sorghum can be used in high performance bioplastic and can be an ingredient in nutrition dense food products. It is also gathering attention for its potential as fuel in biomass generation.
  The Division is conducting research on growing sorghum to its application together with the Nagoya University, Mie University, and Shinshu University.
• Another research project we are working on is basic research to establish an efficient way to collect lithium.
  The use of lithium storage batteries is expected to increase as the market for electric cars expand. Technologies to efficiently collect lithium from used products and recycle it need to be established as lithium in batteries that have been disposed of could pose a threat to the environment.
  The Research & Development Division established a joint research lab to establish lithium collection technology with Hirosaki University and established a satellite base within the Division.
  Toyota Motor Corporation is also participating in the joint research, and the three organizations are advancing basic research together to increase lithium collection performance and to establish a technology that will contribute to energy savings.  
• This ends my presentation.