Nuclear Power Survives in New Energy Plan

Shigeru Ishiba Cabinet made a cabinet decision on the 7th Strategic Energy Plan on February 18th. The plan dropped a phrase of demanding Japan to “reduce its dependence on nuclear power as much as possible” for the first time since Japan experienced unprecedentedly severe accident in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011. The plan also stressed the necessity of enhancing renewable power as the main power resource in Japan. However, there is a concern for business sectors to introduce renewable energies in terms of cost performance. 

The plan set the share of energy resources in FY 2040. It is expected that between 40 and 50 percent for renewable energy, 30 to 40 percent for thermal power and 20 percent for nuclear energy will be the share fifteen years later. As of FY 2023, thermal power occupies 68.6 percent for all the power resource, followed by 22.9 percent for the renewables and 8.5 percent for the nuclear.

 

It is remarkable that the 7th plan still depends 30 to 40 percent of all energy on thermal power generation in 2024, when the developed countries are required to eliminate that type of power generation. And nuclear power will expand more than two times from the current level. Making renewable energy a main resource of power in Japan is not accepted with surprise by the news organizations.

 

Although Japan has been taking a policy to dismantle nuclear reactors which life comes to an end, the 7th plan promotes replace of old nuclear reactors. A power company can increase nuclear reactors as much as it reduced anywhere else. Considering rising cost of building new reactor, the plan allows power company to add the additional cost on electricity bills. Japan abolished in 2016 the rule of rate-of-return regulation in which power company can charge all the cost for power generation on the electricity fee.

 

The biggest concern for the Japanese to increase nuclear power generation is that it does not have any place for final disposal of nuclear waste inevitably produced in each nuclear power reactor. Although the government is looking for candidates to accept final disposal facility, it still is in the process of primary research in Hokkaido, having no hope to determine the place. The plan indicated that the government should pay attention to some concern about the back end.

 

The plan depends on the hope of prevalence of off shore wind power and flexible solar panels called perovskite. However, the cost for introducing renewable energy is rising these years. The government is going to introduce new rule which enable wind power generation not only in territorial waters of Japan but in exclusive economic zone.

 

The government of Japan is optimistic in its dependence on thermal power, believing that liquefied natural gas (LNG) emits less greenhouse gas. It supposes that more LNG will be introduced in thermal power generation by 2040. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba promised US President Donald Trump that Japan would buy more LNG from the US. That insistence on thermal power causes a skepticism on Japan’s implementation of emission reduction target set by the United Nations.

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