Japan energy report

• Nuclear remains a key pillar of the energy supply.
• Ten vertically integrated private companies account for around two thirds of the power production.
• JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy is the largest oil company, accounting for 50% of gasoline sales.
• Tokyo Gas and Osaka Gas account for 70% of the gas supply.
• Crude oil imports are decreasing since 2000.
• LNG imports are declining rapidly since 2016.
• Japan is the second largest importer of coal.
• The country ranks second in the world for solar PV capacity (62 GW in 2019); solar represents 7% of the power mix.
• The price of electricity in industry is almost 30% higher than in EU countries.
• Energy consumption is decreasing and was 16% lower in 2019 than in 2010.
• The energy intensity to the GDP has been decreasing at the very rapid pace of 3%/year since 2010.
• The country is facing pressure to reach its 2030 CO₂ emissions and power mix targets, leading to tighter regulations for coal projects and the development of projects using CCS.
• The gas import capacity is expected to increase since the Government is encouraging fuel switching to gas.

• Institutions & Energy Policy

  The METI, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, is in charge of the energy sector through ANRE, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy. ANRE has three departments: the Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy Department, the Natural Resources and Fuel Department, and the Electricity and Gas Industry Department.

• Energy Companies

  Electricity:

  The electricity sector is dominated by 10 regional, private companies (the "Ten EPCOS"), vertically integrated and grouped together in the Federation of Electric Power Companies (FEPC), and by J-Power. The EPCOs' monopoly in their region ended in 2016.

• Energy Supply

  Gas:

  Japan is the world's largest LNG importer. Imports increased rapidly between 2010 and 2014 in order to compensate the drop in nuclear production. Since then, imports declined by 3.3%/year to 98 bcm in 2019. LNG imports represent 22% of the world's total LNG trade.

• Energy Prices

  Oil:

  The average price is US$1.37/l for gasoline and US$1.19/l for diesel in 2020. Prices followed international oil prices until 2019, declining between 2012 and 2016 and increasing slightly up to 2018. However, they have increased in 2020, contrary to international oil prices. Japanese customers pay one of the highest gasoline prices in the Asia Pacific region, after Hong Kong and South Korea.

• Energy Consumption

  Energy consumption per capita decreased from 4.1 toe in 2000 to 3.3 toe in 2019 (9% above the EU level). Electricity consumption per capita was around 7400 kWh in 2019 (34% above the EU level).

  Total energy consumption has been decreasing since 2010 (by 2%/year on average) to 420 Mtoe in 2019.

  Graph: CONSUMPTION TRENDS BY ENERGY SOURCE (Mtoe)

• Issues & Prospects

  Using its Global Energy Forecasting Model POLES (baseline called Enerblue 2019), Enerdata foresees the share of oil to account for 30% of the primary energy consumption by 2040, while the share of natural gas would be around 25% and the share of coal around 13%. The remainder (32%) would be covered by nuclear, renewables and biomass.

• GENERAL OVERVIEW
• INSTITUTIONS AND ENERGY POLICY
• ENERGY COMPANIES
• ENERGY SUPPLY
• ENERGY PRICES
• ENERGY CONSUMPTION
• ISSUES AND PROSPECTS
• DATA TABLES
• ABBREVIATIONS
• GLOSSARY

Download the Table of Contents

Below is a list of the Japan energy market report graphs:

• GRAPH 1: CO₂-energy emissions (MtCO₂)
• GRAPH 2: Installed electric capacity by source (2019, %)
• GRAPH 3: Gross power production by source (TWh)
• GRAPH 4: Power generation by source (2019)
• GRAPH 5: Gasoline & diesel prices (US$/l)
• GRAPH 6: Electricity prices for industry and households (US$c/kWh)
• GRAPH 7: Gas prices for industry and households (US$c/kWh GCV)
• GRAPH 8: Consumption trends by energy source (Mtoe)
• GRAPH 9: Total consumption market share by energy (2019, %)
• GRAPH 10: Final consumption market share by sector (2019, %)
• GRAPH 11: Oil consumption (Mt)
• GRAPH 12: Oil consumption breakdown by sector (2019, %)
• GRAPH 13: Electricity consumption (TWh)
• GRAPH 14: Electricity consumption breakdown by sector (2019, %)
• GRAPH 15: Natural gas consumption (bcm)
• GRAPH 16: Gas consumption breakdown by sector (2019, %)
• GRAPH 17: Coal consumption (Mt)
• GRAPH 18: Coal consumption breakdown by sector (2019, %)

In the Japan energy market report you will find the following tables:

• Economic Indicators: Annual historical data including population, GDP growth, imports and exports, inflation rate, energy security and efficiency indicators, CO₂ emissions.
• Supply Indicators: Historical data including oil and gas reserves, electric and refining capacity, energy production, power production and external trade. All are detailed by energy source.
• Demand Indicators: Historical data including consumption per inhabitant, consumption trends, total consumption by energy source, final consumption by energy source and sector, and electricity consumption by sector.
• Energy Balances: Single table displaying the overall energy industry balance per annum, also graphically displayed by energy sub-segment.
• Infrastructure Projects: Covers power plant projects by energy, technology, status and operator, gas plant projects by status and operator and LNG contracts.

The Japan country dashboards are complemented with country forecasts from EnerFuture (excel file) with scenario comparison.

Data included in the excelsheet:

• Demand: Primary energy consumption, final energy consumption, by fuel, by sector.
• Power: Electricity generation & capacities, by technology.
• CO₂: Total CO₂ emissions.
• Macro-economy: Main macro-economic assumptions.
• Key indicators: Energy intensity, share of renewables, CO₂ emissions per capita and per unit of GDP.