Falling costs for solar, wind and battery storage means Japan can get 90 percent of its energy from clean electricity by 2035, it showed on Wednesday. The study also found that Japan’s electricity grid, with extra battery storage and interregional transmission lines, can remain reliable without coal generation or new gas-fired plants.
The Group of Seven countries, including Japan, committed last year to major decarbonisation of their energy sectors by 2035 to tackle climate change, but Tokyo has yet to map out a clear path to that goal.
Poor Japan faces a significant energy security risk
•Resource-poor Japan faces a significant energy security risk because it imports almost all of the fuels used in its energy sector.
•Clean electricity — which includes generation from solar, wind, hydro, biomass, hydrogen and nuclear — accounts for 24 percent of the total.
•The study found that increasing the share to 90 percent would reduce electricity costs by six percent and power sector emissions by 92 percent compared to 2020 levels.
But it also said that clear policies, such as setting medium-term targets after 2030 and corresponding targets for the deployment of renewables, are needed to reap the economic, environmental and energy security benefits. The study is based on modeling using the latest cost data for renewables and batteries and is in line with Japan’s 2030 policy goals and G7 commitment.
Japan aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 46 percent from 2013 levels by 2030 by increasing renewable energy in its electricity mix to 36 to 38 percent, double the 2019 level, and nuclear power to 20 to 22 percent from six percent in 2019.
The world’s fifth largest emitter also aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050
Under the scenario with the cheapest combination of generation, storage and transmission, renewables, including floating offshore wind, will make up 70 percent of the energy mix by 2035, with nuclear and gas power accounting for 20 percent and 10 percent, respectively. cents, while existing coal-fired power plants are being phased out, the study says.
