THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
December 10, 2024 at 15:30 JST
The industry ministry is making final tweaks to set Japan's energy reliance in fiscal 2040 to nuclear power at 20 percent and renewable energy, such as solar and wind, to rise to 40 to 50 percent.
The ministry will present a draft of the new basic energy plan, which outlines Japan’s mid- to long-term energy policy, at an expert panel meeting as early as next week.
The current version of the basic energy plan sets targets for nuclear energy to make up 20 to 22 percent and renewable energy to account for 36 to 38 percent of the energy mix in fiscal 2030.
However, delays in restarting and replacing nuclear reactors, as well as limited suitable locations for new renewable energy installations, have kept their contributions to the energy mix at just 8.5 percent for nuclear power and 22.9 percent for renewables as of fiscal 2023.
The ministry classifies both nuclear and renewable energies as “decarbonization power sources” and plans to accelerate their adoption by developing supportive investment policies.
The new plan will retain a certain level of thermal power generation, provided that decarbonization measures are implemented, such as carbon dioxide capture and storage, as well as the integration of co-firing technologies with hydrogen and ammonia.
Previously, the basic energy plan provided specific numerical targets for future power generation composition.
However, since electricity demand is expected to increase from new data centers and semiconductor plants, and progress in decarbonization and energy-saving technologies is unpredictable, the plan has shifted to using broader percentage ranges.
(This article was written by Chinami Tajika and Taro Kotegawa.)
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