The Japanese government is preparing to formalise targets that will establish the country as one of the world’s premier green energy markets.
According to a draft of the country’s soon-to-be-released growth strategy obtained by news agency Reuters, clean technologies will be central to the government’s efforts to revive the economy over the next eight years.
The document reveals the government is aiming to create a 50 trillion yen ($628bn) green energy market by 2020 through a combination of deregulation and renewable energy subsidies.
The target is expected to focus almost exclusively on renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal energy, after last year’s Fukushima disaster prompted the government to shelve plans for new nuclear reactors.
Reuters also reported that the focus on green energy is also likely to lead to further support for the development of low and zero emission vehicles.
With the government also edging forward with plans for a carbon pricing mechanism, the growth strategy would entrench Japan’s position as one of the world’s most attractive markets for green businesses and low carbon infrastructure developers.
The news also comes just weeks after the government approved one of the world’s most ambitious renewable energy subsidy regimes, which will provide feed-in tariff incentives to renewable energy developers that are far in excess of those currently offered in European markets such as the Germany and the UK.
The government has said the feed-in tariff regime should allow the country to increase its renewable energy capacity by around 13 per cent over the next year, a trend it is now keen to continue over the next decade.
