Japan may go for bi-annual solar FiT cuts, new formula - report

Oct 29, 2014 - A subcommittee to Japan’s energy, trade and industry ministry (METI) is proposing bi-annual cuts of the solar feed-in tariffs (FiT) and a change to the way these are calculated.

Up to now, Japan has been taking into consideration the average costs for power producers when reviewing the power purchase rates for photovoltaic (PV) power once a year. The New and Renewable Energy Subcommittee, however, will advise METI to base its calculations on the costs for green energy generators that offer the lowest power purchase prices, the panel’s head Kenji Yamaji told The Yomiuri Shimbun paper on Tuesday.

Japan introduced renewable power FiTs in July 2012 in a bid to reduce its dependence on nuclear energy after the Fukushima accident. The tariffs for solar power were very attractive and the country quickly turned into a hot destination for PV projects. In the past months, a number of utilities in Japan were forced to limit or even hold off grid connection permitting for new solar capacity, due to the huge levels of deployment.

The subcommittee is proposing lower FiTs and revisions twice a year in order to limit that growth.

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