With the Tokyo 2020 Olympics delayed for at least a year, we’re all going to have to wait a bit longer to see Toyota’s 3,700 vehicle fleet of battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles prepared especially for use at the games, along with the hydrogen-fueled Olympic torch. In any case, that’s all more of …
Continue reading “Electric Vehicles and Power Storage in Japan”
At the end of May, Nikkei reported that the number of local government ordinances in Japan banning renewable power plant construction has reached about 60, double what it was in 2017. What could be driving this trend in a country where much of the populace is eager to move beyond its past dependence on nuclear …
As we’ve reported previously, the development of renewables in Japan thus far, although successful in bringing many gigawatts of new generation online, has been a bumpy process marked by many missteps and disappointments, and the road ahead remains filled with uncertainty. Among the variables with the potential to make or break Japan’s achievement of its …
Continue reading “FIT, FIP and the Future of Renewables in Japan”
The peculiar structure of Japan’s electricity grid is interesting enough to merit examination as a free-standing topic, which we’ve done in an earlier report. Today we’d like to get into the history of how Japan’s grid came to be structured the way it is, how the interconnections between grid zones have been utilized over time, …
In recent months, several developments have highlighted the uncertain future of Japan’s electric power generation mix. Worldwide supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19 have brought attention to the fact that Japan has only a two-week stockpile of LNG, a resource that fuels 40% of the country’s power generation. That has renewed anxiety about Japan’s perennial …
Perhaps unsurprisingly for a country known for its automakers, shipbuilders, and heavy industry conglomerates, steel production is one of the most important industries in Japan. What might be more surprising, though, is that when examined closely, Japan’s steel industry presents an interesting lens through which to view the country’s electric power industry. It does so …
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With US oil prices having gone negative for the first time in history this past Monday, it’s doubtful that there’s anyone left who hasn’t noticed the impact that COVID-19 is having on global energy markets. Such attention-grabbing headlines should not, however, distract us from the multitude of other ways that the pandemic is affecting energy …
Continue reading “COVID-19 Exposes Vulnerabilities in Japan’s Electricity Generation”
Last month marked half a century since the first light-water nuclear reactor entered into service in Japan. Since then, nuclear power in Japan has gone through major ups and downs, from growing in popularity in the 1970s all the way to existential concerns about the future of Japanese electricity generation in the post-Fukushima era. In …
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On March 24, 2020, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach officially announced the postponement of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 to next year. With the postponement pushing the Games into the background, the actual state of the coronavirus outbreak here in Japan has started to dominate the …
Continue reading “COVID-19, Tokyo Olympics 2020, and Energy”
In today’s post, we will discuss perhaps the biggest driver of the direction of Japan’s energy industry—the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)—and why it’s so important to keep an eye on what it is up to. The Dual Role of METI METI is the home of the policy planning divisions and regulatory agencies …
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