Moves to Use Daytime Surplus Electricity on Rise in Japan

Tokyo, Sept. 15 (Jiji Press)--There are growing moves in Japan to make effective use of surplus electricity generated during the daytime by solar power, in efforts to shift power demand according to supply.

Some manufacturers have begun to run during the day factories that usually operate at night, while power suppliers have introduced daytime discounts.

Such steps are key to expanding the use of solar power, as electricity generation using the renewable energy source is easily affected by weather.

From 2018, Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co., which produces steel from scrap metal, operates electric furnaces at its Kyushu plant in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, in the daytime in addition to its conventional operation hours at night.

The daytime operation is aimed at "making use of surplus electricity as well as increasing steel production," a company official said.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]