<article><p class="lead">Japanese electricity demand is projected to continue to fall towards the 2030-31 fiscal year ending 31 March, after a steady recovery over 2021-24 from Covid-19 related slumps. </p><p>Japan's power consumption is forecast at 818,018GWh in 2030-31, down by 2pc from 2019-20, according to power agency the organisation for cross-regional co-ordination of transmission operators (Occto). It created the forecast based on demand outlooks provided by the country's grid operators. </p><p>Japan's power demand is forecast to rebound to 831,137GWh in 2023-24, up by 2.3pc from estimated 812,481GWh in 2020-21, backed by a steady recovery in the country's economic activity from the Covid-19 pandemic. Demand from commercial and industry users is forecast to grow by 4pc to 198,767GWh and by 5.4pc to 329,648GWh respectively over the period, which offsets a 1.9pc drop in consumption in the household sector to 302,722GWh. </p><p>But power demand is predicted to fall after 2023-24, while a falling population and energy saving efforts are likely to offset the impact of increased use of electric appliances and economic expansion, Occto said. </p><p>It also forecast Japan will see 159,528MW of peak demand in 2022-23 before falling back to 156,946MW in 2030-31. The country's peak demand is projected to be 159,158MW in 2020-21. </p><p class="bylines">By Motoko Hasegawa</p></article>
