Publication date: Aug 10, 2026 JEPX Spot Price Hits Three-and-a-Half-Year High Despite Adequate Summer Reserves Despite record-breaking heat this summer so far, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has refrained from issuing electricity conservation requests as reserve margins from July through September are expected to remain above the 3% minimum required for stable …
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Publication date: July 24, 2026 Balancing Market Price Caps Are Lowered to JPY 10/ΔkW-30 Min from September The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) presented a policy at the Power Supply Stability Working Group (WG) to lower the price caps for certain products in the balancing market. For Frequency Containment Reserve (FCR, or Primary), …
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Publication date: July 21, 2026 Japan Data Center Update 27: Data Center Decentralization Drives Nationwide Grid Investment Japan’s major utilities to add 15 GW of substation capacity amid data center demand growth Eight major utilities, including TEPCO, will strengthen transmission infrastructure by constructing or expanding substations at 30 locations nationwide to accommodate growing data center …
Five developments shaping Japan’s power market this month, from the government’s plan to replace up to 14 nuclear reactors to a surge in solar curtailment that nearly doubled in a single month. Nuclear status holds steady as Japan reveals a 14-reactor ambition No change in Japan’s nuclear operational status in May, but the Japanese government …
Publication date: July 10, 2026 LTDA To Better Reflect Rising Costs From 2027 The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has held an expert meeting to discuss the new framework for the fourth round of the Long-Term Decarbonized Power Source Auction (LTDA), scheduled for next January (see our previous newsletter for the FY2026 third-round …
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Publication date: June 5, 2026 Kyushu T&D Launches Japan’s First 15-to-30-Minute Curtailment Control System Kyushu Electric Power Transmission and Distribution (T&D) is strengthening measures to reduce renewable energy curtailment. Curtailment refers to a measure in which transmission system operators (TSOs) control power generation output to balance electricity demand and supply. Due to its sunnier weather …
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Publication date: May 1, 2026 METI Addresses Demand Growth and Supply Security in Power Market Reforms Rising energy demand, driven by data center expansion, is increasingly driving power market conditions in Japan, while growing renewable capacity is reshaping supply dynamics. To grapple with the changing energy market, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) …
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Publication date: April 27, 2026 J-POWER and Mizuho Complete Hourly Matching Pilot Ahead of GHG Protocol Revision J-POWER, Mizuho Bank, and three other companies announced the successful completion of a pilot project demonstrating “hourly matching,” which verifies that renewable electricity generation and consumption are aligned on an hourly basis(the matched volume was not disclosed). Specifically, …
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Publication date: April 21, 2026 METI to Limit Grid Connection Study Applications by Region to Manage Surge in BESS The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)’s expert committee has recently decided to introduce a cap on the number of grid connection study applications per operator for grid-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS). The cap …
Publication date: April 7, 2026 JEPX System Upgrades: Shift to API-Based Trading Reshapes Market Access JEPX will begin rolling out its upgraded trading system from April 2026, with a phased transition across spot and intraday markets extending through FY2026. The key change lies in the migration from browser-based trading to API (Application Programming Interface) -driven …
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