JAPAN EXTENDS F-I-T TO HYDRO, WIND, GEOTHERM

Japan Proposes Wind, Geothermal Power Feed-in Tariff
Shigeru Sato and Michio Nakayama (w/Takashi Hirokawa, Alex Devine, Ryan Woo), March 24, 2010 (Bloomberg News via BusinessWeek)

"A Japanese trade ministry panel…proposed expanding the feed-in tariff to require utilities to buy electricity at a premium from hydropower stations, wind turbine and geothermal operators.

"Utilities may have to buy renewable power at between 15 yen (17 cents) and 20 yen a kilowatt hour…The incentive program would run for between 10 and 20 years…"

Japan's aggressive subsidies serve larger purposes. (click to enlarge)

"The government wants to supply 10 percent of the country’s primary energy from renewable sources by 2020, compared with about 3 percent in 2007…The proposed tariff compares with 5 to 7 yen a kilowatt hour utilities pay for nuclear power and about 8 yen for oil- fired generation…"

With a strong subsidey, Japan's incipient wind industry is ready to join its world-class solar industry in generating wealth for the nation. (click to enlarge)

"Japan introduced a feed-in tariff in November, requiring utilities to buy surplus solar power supplied to the grid by homes and businesses, and pay as much as 48 yen a kilowatt hour.

"Japan Wind Development Co. and Japan Power Development Co., known as J-Power, are among companies operating wind farms and geothermal plants. Tokyo Electric Power Co. and nine other regional utilities supply almost all the country’s power."