Conflicting interests keep energy policy uncertain

April 15, 2014

Nuclear power's share in new energy policy remains clouded as interests clash

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/news/20140415p2a00m0na010000c.html

Despite the government releasing a basic energy plan on April 11, it has foregone setting goals for the share of nuclear power, renewable energy and other power sources, as competing interests keep the future of Japan's energy policy uncertain.

Policymakers from both the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and New Komeito had aimed to put numerical targets for renewable energy into the basic energy plan, but were stymied by hardline opposition from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The reason for the opposition: should there be a spread of renewable energy, which is comparatively expensive, it would lead to higher energy bills that would put pressure on household budgets and corporate profits.

The new energy plan calls nuclear power an "important base load power supply" and paves the way for the resumption of idled reactors, replacing aging plants, and even the construction of new plants. One reason for the government promoting nuclear power in this way is that, should resumption of idled reactors continue to be delayed, causing higher energy bills and setting the economy on a downward path, it will affect the administration's public support. The government worried that if it did not highlight the importance of nuclear power, atomic energy might be scrapped completely amidst the backlash that has followed the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant disaster. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's desire to keep the nuclear industry alive is also evident.

So how should the nuclear industry be kept alive? One plan that has been secretly discussed within the government and the energy industry is using public money as well as funds contributed by the power industry to buy energy produced from nuclear sources at a set rate under a system similar to the fixed-income tariff system introduced to help spread renewable energy.

However, there is strong criticism within the government that introducing an energy-buying system that ensures the profits of energy companies that own nuclear plants would, in the words of one senior industry ministry official, "only make the criticism of nuclear power stronger."

Meanwhile, a senior official of the industry ministry has argued for nuclear energy as a necessary source of power in the event that oil or gas imports are cut off. However, an executive at one power company expressed doubt about that argument. It is all but impossible that the share of nuclear power in the nation's energy supply will reach 30 percent like before the nuclear disaster, and the executive says, "If it's only accounting for 10 or 20 percent, its value as a secure energy source declines."

Furthermore, Kyushu Electric's Sendai Power Plant in Kagoshima Prefecture is the top candidate for having its reactors restarted, but Kyushu Electric is doubtful about the government's commitment to nuclear power. A senior executive at Kyushu Electric Power Co. says, "It is the national government that has decided that nuclear energy is important, but when nuclear power became a talking point in the Tokyo gubernatorial election, the government forestalled deciding on the energy plan. There is no way the government is prepared to assume the responsibility of promoting nuclear power."

However, problems do not stop with nuclear power. An LDP meeting evaluating the basic energy plan was full of Diet members representing renewable energy interests like biomass and hydroelectric power, and rumors have abounded in the LDP that an influential Diet member and former minister of economy, trade and industry has gone from supporting nuclear power to supporting renewable energy and was trying to get numerical targets for renewable energy into the energy plan. Just like with nuclear power, political gains and losses come into play with the corporations and interest groups associated with different kinds of renewable energy.

Regarding a decision on the so-called "best mix" of energy sources the government is aiming for, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshimitsu Motegi said, "It is not something that will take as long as two or three years." However, with a solution to the contaminated water issue at the Fukushima plant still elusive and the damaged reputation of nuclear power, deciding on an energy ratio for atomic energy will prove difficult. Should discussions on the energy policy end in coordination between conflicting interests, it could leave serious problems in the future.