The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) held the 60th meeting of the Subcommittee for Large-volume Introduction of Renewable Energy and Next Generation Electricity Network and indicated the reduction effect of the renewable energy output curtailment rate due to the expansion of the interregional interconnection lines based on the master plan.

According to a provisional calculation, after the development of the interregional interconnection lines in the East area, the output curtailment rate of the Hokkaido and Tohoku areas will be decreased to 17.4% in around 2030 from 25.0% (the amount of the output curtailment: 6.3 TWh) and to 26.8% in 2050 from 32.7% (10.1 TWh).

According to the provisional calculation in the case of expanding the Kanmon interconnection line by 1 GW, the output curtailment rate in the Kyushu area will be decreased to 6.9% in around 2030 from 7.6% (210 GWh) and to 25.0% in 2050 from 26.3% (1.11 TWh).

However, concerning that the reduction effect of the renewable energy output curtailment rate was lower than expected, some subcommittee members raised questions, arguing that the cost effectiveness is low, and that they doubt whether this expansion can meet the purpose of the large-volume introduction of renewable energy. METI presented its policy of adopting qualitative evaluation, in addition to cost benefit evaluation, when evaluating grid management, and will elaborate the conditions, including how to evaluate the grid management when it cannot be converted into the value of money.