Overview of wind energy policy and development in Japan

This article reviews the history and current issues of wind energy development in Japan and considers the role of policy and future direction of wind energy. Past policy with its weak market focus did not increase wind energy share in Japan. The situation surrounding wind and other renewable energy changed dramatically after the Great East Earthquake and Tsunami and the subsequent Fukushima Nuclear Plant Accident in early 2011. The new Feed-in Tariff regime was introduced and the Electricity Sector Reform is slowly progressing. Although wind energy has much larger potential than other renewables in Japan, the FIT has not increased wind installation to date, and the number of bottlenecks has hindered large-scale market deployment of wind. The limited grid capacity, the current electricity market structure, and grid operating practices by the existing Electricity Power Companies have constrained the grid access of wind projects. A layer of regulations related to development permits increases lead-time, project uncertainty, and risk premiums. Difficulty in terms of social acceptance is also high due to some of the past mistakes which did not address local community concerns. Cost of wind energy is also high, compared with other countries, due to lack of economies of scale and other reasons. Japan needs to implement a more comprehensive policy package to address numerous bottlenecks and risks to increase wind energy share in its energy mix.