Japan plans to lower its feed-in tariffs once again starting from April 2017 and to withdraw the approval granted to projects in the pipeline.
Between the introduction of feed-in tariffs in July 2012 and January 2016, Japan has approved 79.76 GW of solar projects, of which "only" 22.3 GW were commissioned. More than 57 GW of large-scale PV projects having secured FiT as high as ¥42/kWh (twice the current level) remain suspended as their developers expect costs to fall to maximise profits. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) now plans to withdraw FiT rights and to cancel projects unbuilt or without concrete plans to go ahead in place as of April 2017.
Up to now, the country's average feed-in tariff payment currently standing at around ¥21/kWh (US$0.19/kWh). The country tries to support solar development rather than other energies such as wind and biomass.
Interested in Global Energy Research?
Enerdata's premium online information service provides up-to-date market reports on 110+ countries. The reports include valuable market data and analysis as well as a daily newsfeed, curated by our energy analysts, on the oil, gas, coal and power markets.
This user-friendly tool gives you the essentials about the domestic markets of your concern, including market structure, organisation, actors, projects and business perspectives.