Page 5 - AsiaElec Week 29 2021

AsiaElec POLICY AsiaElec

Japan raises 2030 green power targets

JAPAN JAPAN is to increase its 2030 target for renew- of power, coal 32% and oil 7%.
ables’ share of power generation to 36-38%, up This will require a massive fall in the country’s
from the current 22-24%, as it looks for ways to LNG, coal and oil imports, spelling bad news for
meet its 2030 Paris climate targets. global fossil fuels markets, given Japan’s major
The government’s draft energy policy, role as an importer of fossil fuels.
published this week by the Ministry of Indus- In March, the International Energy Agency
try (METI), would make renewables, which (IEA) warned Japan that the country needed to
includes solar, hydro and wind, the country’s move quickly if it is to have any hope of cutting
dominant form of energy. emissions sufficiently to meet its self-declared
The draft forms a key role in the country target of carbon-neutrality by 2050.
meeting its target of reducing greenhouse gas The IEA noted that fossil fuels still provided
(GHG) emissions by 46% by 2030 from 2013 88% of Japan’s energy in 2021, and that the coun-
levels. try was still among the most carbon-intensive
The new 36-38% target for green energy is economies of IEA’s members.
double the 2019 share of 19%, and would require “Japan needs to accelerate the deployment
massive investment in offshore wind farms and of low-carbon technologies, remove regula-
rooftop solar, two sectors that the government is tory barriers and increase competition in its
currently promoting. energy markets if it is to reach carbon-neutral-
Meanwhile, the draft states that power gener- ity by 2050,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive
ation would fall to 930 TWh in 2030, 9% lower director.
than 2020 output, and 13% less than in the pre- Japan’s newly updated 2030 targets form part
vious forecast. of efforts to speed up its progress to net zero by
The draft policy also maintains the govern- reducing its reliance on fossil fuel generation
ment’s desire for a major recovery in nuclear much more quickly than previously forecast.
power, keeping the 2030 target of 20-22%. Japan has committed itself to becoming net
This would require 27 of the country’s 36 reac- zero by 2050, and intends to meet this goal by
tors to restart, although only 10 have resumed boosting offshore wind, developing its hydrogen
operations since the universal shut-down after and ammonia industries and improving energy
the 2011 Fukushima disaster. efficiency at home.
The draft also for the first time requires Japan published its new “Green Growth Strat-
hydrogen- and ammonia-fired power generation egy in line with Carbon Neutrality in 2050” in
to provide 1% of electricity by 2030. The previ- December 2020, which identified 14 areas that
ous 2030 targets did not require any input from could provide the changes and green growth
hydrogen or ammonia. needed to meet the 2050 target.
The rise in renewables means that fossil fuels It wants renewables to account for 50-60% of
will see their market share plummet. LNG’s share electricity demand in 2050, with the reminder
of generation is to fall from 27% in the previous supplied by nuclear and thermal plants with
2030 policy to 20%, with coal falling from 26% to carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS)
19%. Even oil will contract from 3% to 2%. (30-40%) and 10% hydrogen and ammonia.™
By comparison, in 2019, LNG provided 37%

Week 29 21•July•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P5