KVH Summer 2012 Power Update

With the summer season approaching and the weather turning warmer in Japan, we have had a number of requests from customers on the anticipated situation for power capacity within KVH’s Kanto and Kansai data center facilities. The following is KVH’s current position on this very important topic.


KVH does not anticipate any power interruptions from TEPCO or KEPCO this summer.

Situation in Kanto Area
On May 18th, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) announced their power supply and demand outlook for the summer of 2012. According to this announcement, the electricity supply for the TEPCO service area is estimated to be 57.86 GW in July and 57.71 GW in August, while electricity demand is estimated to range between 53.6 GW and 55.2 GW, assuming normal and extremely high summer temperatures, respectively. Based on this forecast, reserved electricity of 2.5 GW (4.5 % of all electricity supply) will be secured even in the case of an extremely hot summer, and TEPCO states this buffer will ensure a stable electricity supply through the summer months. Given TEPCO’s recent supply and demand outlook, KVH does not anticipate any planned power outages from TEPCO during this summer at this point of time.

Situation in Kansai Area (Greater Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto Area)
Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) released their 2012 summer power supply and demand outlook on May 19th. Within the report, there is a request for power savings from the maximum 2010 summer usage levels by 15% as there is some concern over tight supply and demand this summer. KEPCO issued a revised statement on June 22 that it may conduct rolling power outages within the Kansai region if the power supply becomes very tight. However, it has been confirmed that KVH ODC1 (Epson Building) is NOT included in the areas that would be impacted, thus KVH does not expect any power issues for its Osaka facility.


KVH does not anticipate requesting customers to reduce their current power consumption.

KVH has made significant progress in the past 18 months to make our data centers as efficient as possible. In our Tokyo facilities, specific efforts were made to minimize bypass air to improve cooling efficiency in the server room. Additionally, we have also shut off CRACs that were not required, reduced the amount of internal lighting, and reduced the number of elevators in operation within the office area. In KVH Osaka Data Center, a number of initiatives were undertaken to improve the operational efficiency of the building. These initiatives included switching to LED lights, reducing the number of lights used, as well as reducing the amount of cooling used in the office area. We will continue to investigate ways to improve the efficiency of this data center.

Considering the current efficiency of our data centers together with the supply and demand outlooks issued by TEPCO and KEPCO, KVH does not anticipate requesting customers to reduce their current power consumption during the hot summer months.


If there is a power outage, KVH has sufficient water and power generation capabilities to maintain data center operations.

In the unlikely event of a widespread power outage, KVH’s data centers and network relay transmission facilities are equipped with UPS (uninterrupted power supply) and back-up generators to maintain operations. Our contracted fuel suppliers are standing by to replenish these tanks as required for us to maintain operations in the event of a prolonged power outage.