New Japanese Energy Policy Plan Released

On October 22, the new basic plan for Japan's energy policy was released. 

As a measure to combat climate change, the government plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 46% in 2030 compared to 2013, and to achieve this, it will increase the ratio of renewable energy sources to 36-38%.

This target is ambitious, considering Japan's renewable energy policies to date. Japan, which suffered a major nuclear power plant accident in the Great East Japan Earthquake, has long stopped thinking about climate change measures.

With this policy change, the decision was made to at least double the amount of renewable energy sources than as of 2019. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), which has been trying to shrink the renewable energy market despite the FIT system, must review its actions and take steps to create a new market.

Japan's main renewable energy source is solar power, but compared to 2014, when the market was at its largest, the market has shrunk to 1/3 the size it was in 2020. As a result of METI's retrofitting and complication of the FIT system, many players have disappeared from the market.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is aiming to introduce the FIP starting in FY2022, but they themselves admit that this will not significantly contribute to the introduction of renewable energy. Even if we add the current FIT and the new FIP, METI estimates that solar power generation in Japan will only increase by about 15 GW by 2030. However, unless we increase that to at least 60 GW, we will not be able to achieve even the minimum goal of the new energy policy.

Now that the new goals have been set, we need to decide on the specific policies to realize them, and the direction will become clearer with the results of the House of Representatives election scheduled for the end of this month.