Japan publishes feed-in tariffs

The Japanese press has published feed-in tariffs for all types of renewables, but the material has not yet been published in English.

Annette Bossler of Main(e) International Consulting LLC, who is fluent in Japanese, has informed Renewables International of the publication of feed-in tariffs that will take effect on July 1, 2012. To our knowledge, these rates have not yet been published in English, but Bossler provided us with a PDF of the original Japanese paper.

The rates are as follows:

Solar:

• Up to 10kW – 42 Yen per kWh – 10 year PPA
• Above 10KW – 42 Yen per kWh – 20 year PPA

Wind Power:

• Up to 20kW – 57.75 Yen per kWh – 20 year PPA
• Above 20kW – 23.1 Yen per kWh – 20 year PPA

Geothermal:

• Up to 1.5MW – 42 Yen per kWh – 15 year PPA
• Above 1.5MW – 27.3 Yen per kWh – 15 year PPA

Small and Medium Hydropower:

• 200kW to 1,000 kW – 30.45 Yen per kWh – 20 year PPA
• 1MW – 30MW – 25.2 Yen per kWh – 20 year PPA

Biomass: any capacity – 25.2 yen per kWh – 20 year PPA

Bossler says it is not yet clear whether the rates for wind power also apply for offshore wind.

Yesterday, Renewables International reported that the rates for solar seem high in an international comparison, and Bloomberg also estimated in March that "under the proposed tariffs," which Bloomberg unfortunately did not state at the time, "solar and wind projects could achieve equity returns as high as 44 percent and 51 percent, respectively" – a figure that seems astonishingly high and would certainly lead to a boom-and-bust in Japan. (Craig Morris)