PVTIME – Japan’s land area is about the same as California, but its population is three times that of California. Earlier this year, Japan stated that greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by 46% by 2030 compared to 2013. The new goal undoubtedly strengthens its previous commitments under the Paris Agreement.
On October 22, 2021, the Japanese Cabinet adopted the draft of the Sixth Basic Energy Plan, which set the target for the composition of new energy in 2030. Japan is searching for the way to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, while striving to deal with the most constrained land issue and huge anti-nuclear forces. Nevertheless there is still a long way to go to change the current situation of using coal and natural gas while more than 70% of the electricity supply in Japan is from fossil fuels so far.
Based on this, Japan is eager to develop its solar power to achieve the 2030 emission reduction target. As one of the important photovoltaic market growth countries in the Asia Pacific, Japan has made a considerable contribution to the growth of global photovoltaic. According to the IEA data by the end of 2020, Japan added 8GW of photovoltaic with a total of nearly 70GW, while commercial and residential roof projects reached 41GW.
Japan’s Sixth Energy Basic Plan draft pointed that by 2030, the proportion of renewable energy in the electricity composition will increase from 22% to 24% to 36% to 38%. In terms of photovoltaic power generation, the proportion of power supply will increase from 7% to a maximum of 16%, and the total installed capacity has also doubled, from 64GW to a maximum of 117GW. In Japan, rising electricity prices and declining grid-connected subsidies have allowed users to pay more attention on distributed photovoltaics and energy storage.
In recent years, Japan is the top 3 exporting countries of China’s photovoltaic module, and it is not easy for foreign companies to enter its market. However, with the changes in Japan’s photovoltaic business model, changes in module sizes, and upgrading of energy storage safety standards, Japan may form a virtuous circle of innovation and reduce its own costs in the future.
To know more about the Japanese photovoltaic market, welcome to participate in the international online webinar on the Japanese PV market hosted by PVTIME on December 8.
Please register for free at
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LiaQeVfkT9iG2nUswYZq8Q
