Japan leading the way in green energy

The fall-out from the Fukushima nuclear plant catastrophe last year has pushed opinion in Japan away from nuclear energy towards greener and safer energy sources, and according to analysts the country is set to become the next major hub for growth within the industry.
Before the disaster that was caused by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, Japan relied upon nuclear energy for nearly 30 percent of their energy, however public opinion has been seriously turned towards renewables in the hope that a catastrophe like Fukushima cannot happen again.

Less than one percent of energy capacity was from wind and solar before the disaster, but the country is set to invest up to $483bn in renewable technologies during the next two decades, according to the Financial Times.

Jim Long, of Greentech Capital Advisors, told the FT: “This could provide a significant stimulus for the development of a major renewable energy market in Japan, and underpin the global ambition of a number of large Japanese industrial companies in the clean energy sector.”

Renewable energy companies have suffered in recent years, as generous government subsidies designed to establish the industries have been withdrawn as recession has taken hold. However, Japan is eager to forge ahead with the industry, and is seeing a lot of interest from investors.

Solar power is especially being looked at by policymakers as a means to address the energy crisis. Spanish firm Gestamp Solar announced this week that it was looking to invest up to $1.5bn in solar power in Japan over the course of the next three years.

Dean Enjo, analyst at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets in Tokyo, told Bloomberg: “Right now Japan is in a power crisis and the immediate response will be in solar. Solar farms can be scaled up in months. Biomass, geothermal, wind, they are all viable sources, but they take a lot of time and have a lot of red tape involved.”