To help build a popular consensus on the issue, discussions of the feed-in tariff system and other measures to promote introduction of renewable energy should be made transparent, rather than being...
Auctions will increase costs, not reduce them.
The program, aimed at promoting the use of renewable energy in Japan, requires major utilities to buy electricity generated from solar, wind and other clean energy sources at fixed prices.
The way to fix this is simple. Just pay the feed-in tariff depending on the time of start of generation.
At present, the purchase price for electricity generated through solar power is more than twice the rate set for similar feed-in tariffs in Germany and other nations. The government should swiftly...
The survey’s respondents confirmed that solar power system costs have fallen rapidly with the country’s feed-in tariff (FiT) a major contributing factor, creating a competitive environment where not...
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has proposed lowering the buying rate of solar power but maintaining the prices of other renewable energy at current rates under the feed-in tariff...
The good news is that, outside of the bubble of national politics, Japan’s smart-energy intellectuals and bureaucrats are already undertaking a radical and massive public-sector-centred structural...
Since Japan implemented its Feed-in Tariff program, the country has installed 12,600 MW of new renewable capacity--more than 90% of that solar PV. Better yet, the Japanese are not just installing...[more]
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry intends to eliminate companies from the feed-in tariff system that have promised to sell electricity but have no plans to generate renewable energy...
The government will revise the current feed-in tariff system, which requires power companies to purchase electricity generated by solar power and other renewable energy sources at fixed prices, to...
Promoting the use of renewable energy is a global trend. It is important from the viewpoint of developing alternative energy sources that can replace nuclear power and fossil fuels and of tackling...
According to the latest available data on the installed capacity by the end of April 2014, approximately 10 GW (precisely 9.77 GW) of renewable energy capacity has been installed and started...
Two years after a new feed-in tariff system for alternative energy went into effect, we discover that the promised power revolution looks more like an evolution
“Japan saw a rush to install capacity in response to its national FIT, adding 6.9 GW in 2013 for a total of 13.6 GW. The majority of Japan’s capacity is in rooftop installations, and homebuilders are...
JREF reports more than 6,000 MW added in fiscal year 2013 since FITs introduced.
8,200 MW of feed-in tariff (FIT) contracted projects have been installed in Japan from a total of nearly 600,000 installations since the program when into effect in mid 2012. The Japanese...[more]
End-market demand was said to have been driven by Japan and the UK, which combined accounted for more than one-third of demand globally as well as setting new quarterly records for PV deployed.
Japan will lift the amount utilities must pay for electricity from offshore wind farms while cutting prices for power fed in from solar projects, as the country looks to diversify its use of...
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has released new statistics for solar photovoltaic (PV) installations under the nation's feed-in tariff, finding 83 MW of residential PV and 509...
5,852 MW installed since Japanese FIT implemented, mostly non-residential solar PV. 26,211 MW of certified facilities are yet to be built, mostly industrial solar PV.
The economy ministry is likely to withdraw the approvals issued under a feed-in tariff system to about 670 operators that have not proceeded with construction of solar power generation facilities,...
A government committee that sets the feed-in prices for renewable energy is taking a hard look at raising the price of off-shore wind power and knocking down the price of solar, government officials...
Central to the project is what the Japanese call "solar sharing" – growing crops beneath raised solar panels. One crop that has already been planted, namely rapeseed, was chosen, say project...
You may have already heard the news about Japan's first year of feed-in tariffs, but our Bernard Chabot was provided with the raw data in English straight from METI. Here, he shares them with you.
Japan has installed 3,700 MW of new renewables under its aggressive feed-in tariffs during the first year of the program’s operation.[more]
Local communities in this country have traditionally focused on attracting factories and large retail stores or public works spending to rev up their economies. The feed-in-tariff program offers a...
3,300 MW of renewable energy has been installed since the FIT program was launched and another 22,000 MW of FIT projects are under contract in the Japanese program.[more]
Figures from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry indicate 11,012 megawatts of non-residential photovoltaic projects were approved since the start of the FIT policy and the beginning of...
In the year since the Act on Special Measures Concerning the Procurement of Renewable Energy by Operators of Electric Utilities (the "Act") became effective, Japan's renewable energy market has...
This video report argues that Japan’s introduction of feed-in tariffs has given a huge boost to its renewable energy market, and that India should follow suit.
This updates our September 13, 2011 Client Alert entitled “Outline of Japan’s Feed-In Tariff Law for Renewable Electric Energy,” which summarized “The Act on Special Measures Concerning the...
One thing we can learn from that is that feed-in tariffs work to get things done. This new development of course happened because Japan finally put a feed-in tariff system into place from last July...
Under the law feed-in-tariffs are periodically reviewed and adjusted. In fact, feed-in-tariffs for solar energy have already been reduced by about 10% this year and are likely to be decreased further...
Electric utilities are obliged to purchase renewable energy generated by developers at fixed rates to power homes and businesses through their networks. This encompasses solar, wind and geothermal...
Japan will probably become the largest solar market in the world after China this year, boosted by an incentive program that offers above-market rates for energy from renewable sources.
Yesterday, the Japanese Ministry of Economy and Industry decided to follow the recommendations of the expert committee I reported on earlier. It’s now official. Small rooftop solar will get 38 yen...
As regards the renewable energy feed-in tariff (FIT) system launched in July, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) released September 26 the installed capacity that has been...
A renewable power generation business can be started with a relatively small amount of capital. This could lead to community-based enterprises in which investors fund wind-power facilities or citizen...
An experts' panel under the industry ministry set purchase prices at relatively high levels to support new entrants and promote use of renewable energy. The price levels are generally in line with...
The government had approved 44 solar or wind power facilities with a combined output of 41,605 kw to join the system as of Thursday, according to an official at the Agency for Natural Resources and...
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) settled the details of the Feed-in Tariff Scheme for Renewable Energy, including purchase price, purchase period, and surcharge rates, and released...
The second fundamental flaw is the fact that the proposal doesn’t distinguish between onshore and offshore wind. That difference has a rather large influence on cost. Therefore, German law pays 8.93...
The government has drawn up a design for Japan's feed-in tariff system to promote the generation of electricity through renewable energy sources. In a nutshell, it has decided the prices at which the...
World's Highest Feed-in Tariffs Differentiated by Technology But Otherwise Little Further Differentiation Are the Tariffs too High? In what may be the most significant renewable energy policy...[more]
In what may be the most significant renewable energy policy development worldwide in years, Japanese authorities are circulating proposed feed-in tariffs that-if confirmed by the Minister of Trade...[more]
World's Third Largest Economy Adopts FITs[more]
What Japan Could Do if It Followed Germany's Lead on Renewable Energy Within one Decade Japan Could Halve its Dependence on Nuclear Power[more]
Japanese translation by Masai Muto of What Feed-in Tariffs Could Do for Japan's Electricity Shortage
German Wind more Stable Year-to-Year than Fukushima Reactors[more]
Recently, the International Renewable Energy Agency's Mika Ohbayashi summarized Japan's proposal for a system of feed-in tariffs. The proposal by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry...[more]
Andrew DeWit, a professor at Rikkyo University in the Political Economy of Public Finance, has recently published two thorough articles on the political context in Japan. The articles examine the...[more]
Bloomberg is reporting that Japan's new ruling party, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), is expected to propose a comprehensive feed-in tariff policy as part of its legislative agenda. Though...[more]
The DJP's environmental commitments are found on pages 23-26.
Projects which will add 1,150 MW of capacity are expected to be completed this year, compared to none last year. Clear evidence surely that feed-in tariffs do what they say they do. . .
