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information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise

Hope (maybe) for renewables

December 12, 2014

Eased rules on renewable energy to encourage resumption of utilities' purchases

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/business/AJ201412120058

By KUNIAKI NISHIO/ Staff Writer

The government plans to scrap the limit on electricity generated through solar and wind power stations, paving the way for five power utilities to resume purchases of electricity from renewable energy suppliers early next year.

The government introduced the feed-in tariff program in July 2012 to double Japan’s renewable energy dependence from around 10 percent to more than 20 percent.

However, the five utilities--Hokkaido Electric Power Co., Tohoku Electric Power Co., Shikoku Electric Power Co., Kyushu Electric Power Co., and Okinawa Electric Power Co.--stopped signing contracts with solar and wind power companies earlier this year. They feared the surge of applicants could hamper the stable supply of electricity.

The economy ministry had been considering raising the ceiling on the amount of power the utilities could receive from the renewable energy suppliers. But it instead decided to lift restrictions on the amount of electricity that could be generated by the suppliers.

Currently, electric power companies can order renewable energy suppliers to restrict power generation without providing compensation on 30 days a year.

Under the revisions, utilities can still order suppliers to restrict power generation but on an hourly basis. Under the current rules, the orders are issued a day in advance.

The revisions mean that every power station will need communication devices to allow the utilities to directly control the supply levels.

In addition, the utilities can now only order such restrictions on renewable energy facilities with a capacity of 500 kilowatts or more. The new rules will allow utilities to give such orders to any kind of power station, including those for ordinary households.

The ministry will make its final decisions by year-end.

If the revisions take effect, all renewable energy businesses accepted into the government’s feed-in tariff project will be able to provide power to the utilities.

However, the utilities’ prices and conditions for buying energy from the suppliers will likely become more stringent, and the government may be forced to restructure the overall project to produce a more profitable business model for the suppliers.

Under the current guidelines, Kyushu Electric and Tohoku Electric will only be able to use about half of the 29 gigawatts of power generated through the project, according to the ministry.

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