Japan:

Renewable Energy Poses Challenge for Tokyo (Financial Times)

Projects with 47 MW capacity of geothermal energy are now being built

Lacking fossil fuels of its own, Japan has always wrestled with energy policy, but the public’s desire to abandon nuclear power in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster has made the challenge even more severe. The government wants to increase renewables from 10 per cent of its energy mix to 24 per cent by 2030, further reducing its reliance on gas, coal and nuclear.

Japan suffers from frequent volcanic eruptions, but volatile tectonics also mean geothermal power. Geothermal is almost carbon free and when the steam is easy to find it produces cheap electricity.

After a 20-year lull, new geothermal plants are under construction. Idemitsu Kosan is adding 5 MW of geothermal capacity at an existing plant in Kyushu, while a consortium headed by J-Power is building a new 42 MW geothermal facility in the northern province of Akita.

But geothermal produces a tiny fraction of Japan’s electricity and analysts are not optimistic that it will ever be much more. “We have 30 GW of potential but most of the resources are located in national parks,” says Mr Shibata. What is more any hint of using them produces a fierce backlash from hot spring resorts who think power stations will steal their hot water.

Officials at the industry ministry are promoting research into deep geothermal power, found kilometers underground, but it will take costly exploration and drilling.

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