The majority of renewable energy in Japan is occupied by hydroelectric power generation, with capacity of 50.03 GW and annual power generation of 91.4 TWh. Among them, small hydraulic power of 10 MW or less accounts for about 6% of the total capacity, and the cost is said to boost the overall cost of around 15 to 100 yen per 1 kWh.
In geothermal power generation, it is said to have the world’s most abundant resource, but due to problems such as time and cost, as of 2015 17 plants only have capacity of 530,000 kW.
For solar power generation, the cumulative introduction amount at the end of FY2015 cumulatively is 34.15 GW, which is the third largest number in the world after China and Germany. It had the world’s largest installed capacity until 2004. From July 2012 we have started a fixed price buying system and it is reported that the setting of 42 yen per 1 kWh of purchase price (20 years) is the highest level in the world at that time and it will be a big incentive for dissemination ing. Panel production was also the world’s largest in the early 2000s, but the market share declined relatively due to production expansion in China and Southeast Asia and it is 6% as of 2012.
In wind power generation, as of the end of FY2015, there are 2,012 units and 3.12 GW of installed capacity. Country characteristics such as stable wind blowing areas, environmental impact, etc. are impeding the spread.
In biomass power generation, there are 190 facilities in 70 places as of September 2011, and there are 14 combined coal power generation facilities. As of 2008, 322 million tons of fuel was injected, generating 76% efficiency.
Movement in Japan
Compared with the targets of developed countries, the target amount of diffusion in Japan is small, and weakness in policy has been pointed out, such as Germany being overtaken by the annual introduction amount of photovoltaic power which kept the world’s best for many years.
In response to the Cool Earth Promotion Initiative announced in January 2008, the movement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is accelerating also in Japan. In June 2008 Fukuda Vision was announced and by 2030 the target to supply more than half of electricity with renewable energy and nuclear power was shown. “Sunlight, wind power, hydropower, biomass, unused energy” are cited. Particularly, contents such as increasing the introduction amount of solar power generation by 40 times and promoting the development of biomass energy in rural areas are indicated. Following this, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and other ministries and others began to examine the promotion policy. In response to the sharp decline in the spread of photovoltaic power generation, in January 2009, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry started a subsidy equivalent to about 10% of the facility cost in line with the emergency recommendation (see photovoltaic generation in Japan) . In February 2009, the Ministry of the Environment announced the estimate of the benefits of promoting the dissemination of renewable energy. Cumulative total of 25 trillion yen is necessary by 2030, but the cumulative economic effect will be 29 to 30 trillion yen or more by 2020, more than 58 trillion to 64 trillion yen by 2030, and 600,000 people It is estimated to generate employment. As a diffusion policy, we proposed adopting a fixed price buying system.
With regard to photovoltaic generation, on February 24, 2009, strengthening of the subsidy system to shorten the recovery period of initial investment from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to about 10 years was announced. Originally scheduled to be implemented from 2010, it was ahead of schedule from the viewpoint of economic crisis countermeasures, energy policies, global warming countermeasures, and began on November 1, 2009. The purchase price of surplus electricity at the start is 48 yen per 1 kilowatt hour, 39 yen if there are other private power generation equipment such as Enefarm and EcoWill in addition, it is to be purchased at the same price for 10 years after installation became. The purchase price of facilities newly installed later is being lowered year by year. With the effect of subsidies, Japan’s solar cell production volume resumed expansion, and in 2010 the size of related industries exceeded 1 trillion yen. Related employment is also seen as exceeding 40,000 people.
From the end of 2009, introduction of the total purchase and expansion of the target to other than solar power generation are being studied, and the examination situation is published on the exclusive website of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Such expansion is expected to promote the spread of renewable energy. The bill (renewable energy special measures bill, renewable energy purchase bill) is submitted to the Diet on April 5, 2011 after consultation from stakeholders in various fields, after consultation and revision by each party, the same year 8 It was established with unanimous approval at both houses of the House of Representatives on March 23 and 26. Details of the system such as purchase conditions have not been decided yet, expectation for regional economic promotion and industrial revitalization gathers, but dissatisfaction with increase in electricity fee, voices of anxiety about possibility of acceptance by electric power company etc be asked. On the other hand, there are movements such as commercialization of renewable energy sources that have been missing from the target, entry of new markets, expansion of related investment, etc., due to introduction of the system. The timing to decide the purchase price is scheduled for early in the year of 2012. In June 2014, the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced the current state and forecast of renewable energy in Japan.
In August 2014, Okinawa Electric announced the interruption of new acceptance of renewable energy as it is expected that the supply of renewable energy will exceed the demand for electricity, causing troubles such as blackouts in power generation facilities and transmission grid. On September 25, Kyushu Electric Power Company announced the interruption of acceptance of three new companies, Shikoku Electric Power Co., Hokkaido Electric Power Co., and Tohoku Electric Power Co. on the 30th, and it will announce to new emerging electric companies related to new entry into the renewable energy business Gave a big blow. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry started drastic review of the system on the assumption that the fixed price purchase system (FIT) based on renewable energy introduction policy promoted by the government was poor and designed. We plan to summarize the direction within 2014, temporarily stop certification of new businesses of large-scale solar power generation, and also install and expand new power generation facilities of already solar photovoltaic power companies that have already been certified Freezing and limiting the supply of renewable energy concentrating on solar power generation.
Hydroelectricity in Japan
Hydroelectricity is Japan’s main renewable energy source, with an installed capacity of about 50 GW (including pumped storage) and a production of 69.2 TWh of electricity in 2009, making Japan one of the biggest hydroelectricity producers in the world. Most of Japanese hydroelectric power plants are pumped-storage plants. Conventional hydropower plants account for about 20 GW out of the total installed capacity as of 2007.
Conventional hydropower potential of Japan is considered to be almost fully developed, with little opportunity for further capacity increase. In recent years, almost exclusively pumped storage plants were commissioned, significantly increasing the ratio of pumped storage capacity over conventional hydro. The large capacity of pumped storage hydropower was built to store energy from nuclear power plants, which until the Fukushima disaster constituted a large part of Japan electricity generation. As of 2015, Japan is the country with the highest capacity of pumped-storage hydroelectricity in the world, with 26 GW of power installed. After the 2011 nuclear power shutdowns, pumped-storage plants have been increasingly used to balance the variable generation of renewable energy sources such as solar, which have been growing rapidly in recent years.
As of September 2011, Japan had 1,198 small hydropower plants with a total capacity of 3,225 MW. The smaller plants accounted for 6.6% of Japan’s total hydropower capacity. The remaining capacity was filled by large and medium hydropower stations, typically sited at large dams. Cost per kilowatt-hour for power from smaller plants was high at ¥15-100, hindering further development of the energy source.
Wind power generation in Japan
The cumulative introduction volume of wind power generation (output 10 kW or more) in Japan is about 1400 as of March 2007, the total installed capacity is about 1.68 million kW, the power generation amount is the standard nuclear power plant (around 1 million kW) It is a fraction. In FY 2007, the introduction volume fell to less than half compared to the previous year. Looking at the output per unit, in 2007 the model with the installed capacity of 1 MW or more began to occupy the majority. Major wind power companies are Eurus Energy Holdings (Former Tomen Powerholders) (a joint venture between TEPCO and Toyota Tsusho), Japan Wind Power Development, Power Development, Eco Power (a subsidiary of Cosmo Oil), Gas and Power (Osaka Gas’ Subsidiary), Clean Energy Factory and others. With regard to large machines of 2 MW or more, which were independent places of overseas machines, the development of domestically produced machines is progressing. Most of the wind power generation facilities are imported products, and the proportion of domestically produced machines in fiscal 2007 is 16% on the basis of equipment capacity and 23% on the base.
In recent years, Japanese companies and research institutes are actively developing windmills suitable for the Japanese environment. As of 2014, there are about 2000 units nationwide, total generation capacity is about 2.5 million kilowatts.
Offshore wind power generation
As Japan has wide territorial waters and exclusive economic zones, expectations are directed towards wind power generation at sea.
Also, because of the deep water places, methods using a floating foundation are also being studied at the maritime technical safety research institute and IHIMU. For offshore wind power generation at offshore (offshore wind power generation), since it is difficult to transmit electricity to land, we produce hydrogen by electricity generated, compress it, transport it by adsorption to organic hydride, etc. It is expected that this will solve the problem of power fluctuation. In March 2002, the Institute of Science and Technology Policy announced “Proposal on methanol production utilizing deep ocean wind power generation”, and around Okinotorishima, Sanriku off Pacific, Northwest off Hokkaido Nihonkai etc. As a promising marine area, we propose a large-scale system that can cover all the energy demand in Japan, estimate its economic efficiency, etc., and said it can be put into practical use.
Cost-effectiveness
Costs per unit electricity generation in Japan (excluding expenses such as global warming cost etc) are set to 10 to 24 yen / kWh as of 2001, and if the conditions are good in Japan, practical level 9 to 13 There are some facilities reaching yen / kwh. However, although wind turbines in Europe and the United States are generally efficient with large diameter of 2500 – 5000 kw, Japanese windmills have difficulties in trading funds shortage and elongated plastics onshore transportation, and as of 2013, 400 – 1500 kw The reason is that poor efficiency due to small and medium caliber diameters and failure cases that purchased a windmill made in Europe that does not assume typhoons or lightning strikes (due to the appreciation of the yen) and failed due to a typhoon or lightning strike caused a failure are doing.
As of 2013, as wind power becomes more advantageous against thermal power in the yen depreciation policy, Japanese domestic wind turbines designed on the premise of Japanese typhoon and lightning will be less expensive than imported windmills, so Japanese wind power generation It is expected that it will regain the delay of construction and large caliber for Europe and the United States.
According to the announcement of Wind Farm of the third sector Aoyama Takahara Wind Farm, which is a part of Chubu Electric Power’s facility subsidiary Seatec, Iga and Tsu Investment Co., Ltd., which is engaged in wind power generation projected to become Japan’s No. 1 wind power generation facility in 2015, 40 Total cost of construction of wind turbines and wind substation for wind power generation with capacity of 10,000 kW is expected to be about 20 billion yen.
Japanese solar power generation
According to the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, there are about 80 mega solar in Japan, together with those in operation and those under construction and planning. About twenty-five power plants (as of February 2012) have breakdown, on the other hand, there are about 48 plants (as of September 2011) by non-electric companies (note that mega Solar has increased since the survey).
According to the 2010 survey, as for the installation form of solar power generation, in the Western countries where the introduction of solar power generation is advanced like Japan, it is 60 – 90% on the output base for electric power business and for non-residential use In Japan, electric power business and non-residential use account for 20%, residential photovoltaic power generation equipment accounts for 80% and the market is specialized for housing and the market is developing.
The Electric Federation Federation of Electric Power Companies, which each electricity company creates, announces plans in September 2008 that each electric power company will expand mega solar to approximately 140,000 kW in total of 30 sites by fiscal 2020. As of the end of January 2012, electric power companies have revealed specific plans for introduction of about 110 thousand kW at 25 sites.
As of March 2012, the total mega solar program alone is close to 500,000 kW total output, of which about 100,000 kW will start operating from 2012 to 2013. The total output of the plan of private enterprises other than electric companies announced during the year from March 2011 to March 2012 is twice that of the electric power company’s plan until the year 2020 (140,000 kW).
In the project to install solar panels on the roof of each residential area in public places in the district or in residential district in New Town, there are cases where what the total area exceeds 1,000 kW is called “mega solar” for the whole area , But this is usually not considered mega solar. However, in one factory, for example, if the total output of the photovoltaic power generation equipment of the roof of the adjacent building exceeds 1,000 kW in one factory, the standard is ambiguous as it is regarded as a mega solar.
The singing phrase says that it is nature-friendly not to destroy the environment, but there are municipalities that have constructed facilities by cutting through miscellaneous forests and forests. There is contradiction that it is doing destructive activities saying not to destroy nature.
Until around 2005, Japanese cell and module manufacturers such as Sharp, Kyocera, Sanyo Electric, and Mitsubishi Electric had accounted for about half of the world market share, but then lost market share. This is because the Chinese and Taiwanese specialized manufacturers expanded capital investment with the money obtained by IPO and grew at a stroke in the mega solar market centered on Europe. Eleven of the world’s top 25 companies in 2010 were Chinese enterprises. Also, even in domestic residential solar market, which has been considered high barriers to entry, the share of Japanese companies has declined due to entry of foreign capital. Production capacity has been rapidly increased, so it has fallen into oversupply and there is a possibility that selection will proceed in the future.
The cause of such a change in industrial structure is the integrated manufacturing line that manufacturers of solar cell manufacturing equipment supply manufacturers in emerging countries (especially China) as turnkey solutions. If you buy this you can now produce panels, making it easier for new entrants. It is becoming difficult to differentiate other than power generation efficiency, and smart curve (English version), which makes it impossible to secure operating profit in processing assembly, is progressing throughout the industry. Manufacturers are trying to survive by entering into more value-added system integration (SI) and independent power generation business (IPP, independent power producer) through alliances, joint ventures and acquisitions. SI is a service that collectively handles fund procurement, design, procurement and construction (EPC, engineering, procurement and construction), operation and maintenance (O & M), etc. It is differentiated by quality assurance and performance guarantee. Especially since the mega solar is uniform one item, added value created by the service is large.
Geothermal power generation in Japan
The amount of electricity generated by geothermal power generation in Japan is about 530 MW in 2010, only 0.2% of total electricity generation including other electricity generation. This corresponds to the power generation amount for one medium-scale nuclear reactor. Even in Kyushu where geothermal power generation is relatively active, it is only 2% of the total electricity generation. It is said that the popularization of geothermal power generation in Japan has been stagnant mainly due to the regulation of the National Parks and National Parks during development and the opposition from the hot spring areas (as described in detail below).
Nevertheless, because the Japanese archipelago is an environment with many volcanoes, it is estimated that the reserve of geothermal power generation in Japan is large, about 33 GW (33,000 MW). It is pointed out that development of geothermal power generation should be proactively promoted as Japan, which rely on importing most of the fuel from overseas, can be valuable domestically produced energy.
The technology of Japanese companies involved in geothermal power generation is high, 140 MW and one is the world’s largest geothermal power plant (NA · Awa · Plura Geothermal Power Station – English version) Fuji Electric Systems (now Fuji Electric (former Fuji Electric Toshiba delivered a 166 MW turbine generator (Te-Michi geothermal power station – English version) exceeding that by Mitsubishi Electric, Electric Machinery HD), as of 2010, Fuji Electric, Toshiba, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Three Japanese companies supply 70% of the geothermal power plant capacity of the world.
On the other hand, research on geothermal power generation in Japan has been cheered for many years, geothermal power generation was excluded from new energy by the New Energy Law in 1997, and research in the country was hardly continued. The geothermal project that is subject to “Special Measures Law on the Use of New Energy, etc. by Electric Utility (RPS Law)” started from 2003 is subject to “steam flushing” on condition that “it does not significantly decrease hot water” Because the system was hard to be certified, the market development in Japan was also stagnant, literally in the 2000s geothermal ‘winter era’ was continued In 2008, only binary power generation returned to new energy and geothermal power generation The possibility of the flash power generation which is the main in the system is lost in the system. . In the same year, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry launched a study group on geothermal power generation, and in FY2010, although considering raising subsidies for development cost of geothermal power generation, it was far from realization. . In 2010, the survey itself was endangered due to including “Geothermal Development Promotion Survey Project” and “Geothermal Power Development Project” as subjects of the sorting of the Democratic administration, but the Great East Japan Great Earthquake of 2011 and the accompanying Fukushima Dai Due to the accident at one nuclear power plant, as part of renewable energy development, interest in deregulation towards the development of geothermal power generation came to be taken. For example, in June of the same year, the Ministry of the Environment began reviewing the two major issues in setting up geothermal power plants “regulations on national and national parks” and “assessment of impact on hot spring facilities.” In the following 2012, we decided to purchase electricity by renewable energy including geothermal power generation at 42 yen per kW for 15 years. In addition, regulations relating to national parks have been relaxed, and a large number of surveys and plans have been initiated for the operation of small geothermal power generation to be described later.
Dissemination policy
The diffusion policy currently in use can be roughly divided into fixed frame (quota or RPS) system and fixed price purchase system (feed-in tariff system, feed-in tariff law, fixed price system). The industry strongly resisted the introduction of an environmental tax (carbon tax) that relatively weakens the competitiveness of the source itself of greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, smart grid as a renewable energy electric power system is a global business.
Fossil fuels, which are currently the major energy sources, are concerned about cost increases in the medium to long term. Furthermore, suppression of global warming is an urgent task, and in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report it is necessary to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in order to keep the average temperature change to 2 ° C In the third working group report, renewable energy is also an important mitigation technique. The International Energy Agency also shows a scenario to reduce 21% of renewable energy among the emission reductions by 2050 and urges that policy measures for disseminating are urgent. On the other hand, existing depleting energy sources are directly and indirectly expended large amounts of subsidies for the purpose of supply stabilization, etc., and they are already inexpensive because they are widely used already. These are barriers to disseminating renewable energy. Various dissemination policies are used to overcome such barriers and spread them at the necessary speed.
The effectiveness and necessity of these dissemination policies have also been pointed out in the Stern report and the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report as part of measures to curb global warming. Also pointed out are the limits of voluntary efforts that do not rely on policies.
Fixed frame system
Also called quota system. This obliges the use of renewable energy over a certain percentage. Particularly in electricity, it is a system that makes it possible to resell the environmental value component to another using the tradable green certificates system.
At the initial stage of introduction, it introduces a certain degree of introduction promotion effect. However, it has been pointed out that the risk of investment at the time of introduction is high and that only limited projects with good conditions are developed. Compared with the feed-in tariff system below, it is empirically known that costs are not reduced in the long term and the promotion effect is inferior. Japan’s RPS system also belongs to this.
Fixed price buying system
Also called a feed-in tariff system, when introducing renewable energy facilities, it is a system that guarantees the purchase price of energy (mainly electricity) supplied from the facility for a certain period (for example, 20 years). Also called fixed price system. It is easy to set up a business plan and has low investment risk and therefore has the feature that it can minimize expenses for promoting renewable energy dissemination. In particular, initial investment such as wind power generation and solar power generation is effective in a method in which the initial investment occupies most of the investment amount. It is also characterized by imposing a connection to a grid and an obligation to purchase the generated electricity to an electric power company. The purchase price gradually decreases as the introduction time becomes late. The amount of introduction and subsidy costs are controlled by periodically adjusting this pace of reduction in accordance with the spreading situation and the progress of cost reduction. It is empirically known that this controllability and institutional flexibility are higher than other methods and the cost per introduction amount is the lowest. For this reason it has become the most proven method to date, it is used in more than 50 countries around the world and is the most popular method as a renewable energy subsidy policy. It has high institutional flexibility and is often used in conjunction with the following carbon tax (environmental tax) as well as methods such as green electricity certificate and tax deduction. The superiority of this system is recognized by many public institutions, and in June 2008 the IEA also recognizes the superiority to other systems such as fixed-line system (see Fixed Price Purchase System # Evaluation).
Environment tax
Among the environmental taxes, there are taxes on greenhouse gas emissions, also called carbon taxes. From the viewpoint of spreading renewable energy, this has the effect of relatively lowering the competitiveness of fossil fuels. In some cases it is used in conjunction with the above fixed price purchase system, etc. As already introduced in overseas countries and achieving reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in many countries (see Environmental Tax), high effect is expected also in countries under consideration of introduction. In addition to directly taxing fossil fuels, it may be used as a source of tax reductions, refunds, etc. on renewable energy sources. In Germany to be used in conjunction with the fixed price buying system, 90% of the environmental tax revenue is used for personnel expenses related to employment (concretely reduction of social insurance premiums and the remaining 10% are environmental measures) to suppress the impact on employment I am using it. It is considered to be an effective means in Japan, and the Ministry of the Environment proposes the introduction of carbon taxes by using the tax obtained as a measure to counter global warming (to make it a specified financial resource). However, the discussion has not progressed as compared with European countries etc., and it is only sporadically introduced in local governments.
Other policies
There are tax incentives such as subsidies for introduction costs, tender system, deductions, tax incentives, low interest loans, surplus electricity purchase (net metering), etc. It is sometimes used in combination with a fixed frame system or a fixed price buying system .
In Japan, electric power companies voluntarily established a surplus power purchasing system and have achieved results with the introduction of photovoltaic power generation and others. From 2009 on, solar power generation has become a public subsidy system. In addition, local governments often establish their own subsidies.
Source from Wikipedia