Japan’s $21 Million Microgrid Investment Boosting Renewable Sector, According to a New Study on ASDReports

Wednesday 29 April 2015, Amsterdam

Japan’s increased focus on smart grid deployment, as part of its plans to boost energy efficiency and power generation from renewable sources, will drive the country to become one of Asia-Pacific’s top markets in smart grid development.

The company’s latest report, now available on ASDReports, states that Japan was among the first countries globally to invest in smart grid research and development in the early 2000s, with the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) funding a number of pilot microgrid projects from 2003 onwards.

More recently, the Ministry of Energy initiated a new program in 2014 to encourage microgrid development in Japan. With a budget of $7 million provided annually for three years, this program makes funding available for independent demonstration projects, such as electric vehicles for mobility and storage, renewable energy production and storage systems, and energy efficiency optimization.

The report says: “Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, Japan suffered substantial damage to its grid infrastructure, along with a reduction in its base load generation. Consequently, there are more efforts to increase the country’s energy efficiency and renewable power generation.

“However, the proliferation of renewable power projects in Japan is hindered by numerous difficulties with connecting to the grid, which is currently divided into 10 regions and operated by 10 different utilities. One of the major challenges for developers in 2014 was the requirement for an improved transmission system.”

According to the analyst, this is further compounded by the fact that it had previously taken around three to four years for developers to overcome all regulatory hurdles involved in implementing renewable projects.

However, as Srinivasan continues: “This lengthy approvals process has led the Japanese government to reduce the waiting period to less than two years. Combined with the possible establishment of a centrally-operated grid, this may allow projects to be set up in less time, enabling the renewable sector to become a significant part of the country’s power network.

“Renewable energy accounted for only 10% of Japan’s total installed capacity in 2014, but we expect this to grow to 19% by 2025,” the analyst concludes.

This report provides analysis on smart grid technology policies across the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the EU, Germany, the UK, France, Spain, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, India, China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Australia. The key topics covered include advanced metering infrastructure, microgrid, smart cities, net metering, time of use pricing, communication protocol, electric vehicles, and energy management systems.

This report was built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research, and in-house analysis conducted by the report.