Wholesale prices in Japan electricity markets remained soft in the week to October 2 under sunny weather conditions, preserving unorthodox price formation of low east and high west. Based on the Rim Power Index (Day ahead 24 hours), weekday power prices in the eastern market, including Hokkaido, Tohoku and Tokyo area, averaged out at 4.29 yen per kilowatt hour (kWh), down 0.31 yen/kWh or 6.7 % from the previous week, meanwhile prices in the western, made up of the Chubu, Hokuriku, Kansai, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu area, at 4.86 yen/kWh, down 1.20 yen/kWh or 19.8%.

Relatively sunny days cranked up photovoltaic (PV) power plants, providing all eight arias with more electricity in daytime. Higher-than-normal temperatures, however, lingered in west Japan, propping up the prices at higher levels than east.

Tokyo's daily high temperatures were forecasted on a day ahead basis at 26 Celsius degrees for Sep 28, 23C for Sep 29 ,24C for Sep 30, 21C for Oct 1 and 24C for Oct 2. Sendai's 24C, 22C, 21C, 20C and 23C. Sapporo's 18C, 24C,22C, 20 and 23C, whereas, in west, Osaka's 28C, 26C, 27C, 27C and 29C, Nagoya's 30C, 26C, 28C,27C and 28C, Fukuoka's 26C, 26C, 25C, 26C and 28C.

The premium of Hokkaido to Tokyo vanished compared with minus 0.05 yen/kWh recorded in the previous week, with Hokkaido's 24 hours average 4.29 yen/kWh (previous week's ave:4.57 yen) and Tokyo's 4.29 yen/kWh (4.62 yen), which are reckoned in conformity to data compiled by the Japan Electric Power Exchange (JEPX). Hokkaido prices often drift at higher levels than other areas especially in the winter season. Hokkaido, Tokyo and Thoku's nightime average prices also edged down, even if it is smaller than daytime.

Kansai's weekly average dropped to 4.70 yen/kWh from 6.14 yen/kWh, and Kyushu's fell to 4.70 yen/kWh from 5.71 yen/kWh. The difference of the two areas gone away compared to 0.43 yen/kWh recorded in the prior week. Kansai area is the biggest market in the western Japan, and Kyushu's prices are incline to move at less expensive levels alongside of other areas. Unlike Tokyo, Tohoku and Hokkaido, Kansai and Kyushu's average prices for night time firmed up, indicating that western sellers inclined to throttle back non-PV power centers in order to avoid excess supply in daytime.

On JEPX, the weekday average of System Price (Day ahead 24 hours), which were figured based on the data of 9 areas, went down by 0.50 yen/kWh or 10.4% to 4.32 yen/kWh, with the average volume decreasing by 23, 204 megawatts per hour (MWh) or 2.3% to 860,315 MWh compared to the prior week's.

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