Japan Solar Update: No.157 (July 14 ~ 18, 2025)
Japan’s key ministries aim to close the gap between actual PV deployment and 2030 targets by promoting solar on public facilities, infrastructure, and farms, with integrated policy discussions set for the next meeting.
<Key points>
- Interviews were conducted with the Ministry of the Environment (MoE), the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) regarding the progress in initiatives toward achieving the targets of FY 2030 energy mix
- Concerns were raised over the gap between actual results and the targets, and opinions were expressed emphasizing the importance of expanding PV introduction to public facilities, infrastructure such as airports, roads, and railways, as well as agrivoltaics
- At the next meeting, initiatives by relevant ministries, including METI, will be integrated, and the overall picture of future renewable energy policy will be discussed
Progress in the initiatives to achieve the targets of 2030 energy mix
Follow-up on the policy measures to expand PV deployment
| Policy measures | Ministries | Target | Progress |
| PV introduction with the initiative of the public sector | MoE | 6.0 GW | 0.22 GW* |
| PV introduction in harmony with local communities | MoE,MAFF | 4.1 GW | 1.1 GW* |
| Promotion of renewable energy introduction in harmony with local communities | MoE,MAFF | 4.1 GW | 0.3 GW** |
| Establishment of airports as renewable energy hubs | MLIT | 2.3 GW | 0.2 GW (FY 2020) PV installed capacities in FY 2024 are being aggregated |
| Promotion of self-consumption by private businesses | MoE | 10.0 GW | 1.7 GW – 3.2 GW* |
| Strengthening of policy measures for newly built residences | MLIT, METI, MoE | PV installation ratio on newly built residences: 60.0% (3.5 GW) |
31.4% (FY 2022) 36.5% (FY 2023) |
*: Installed capacity between FY 2020 and FY 2024 ** Installed capacity between FY 2020 and FY 2023
Committee members raised questions and comments regarding concerns about the gap between the target for the PV introduction with the initiative of the public sector and the actual installed capacity to date, the need to supplement data on the installed capacity of PV systems for self-consumption, and efforts related to agrivoltaics
Key responses from the ministries
MoE: Regarding the deployment using PPAs, efforts are underway to explore approaches such as aggregating multiple facilities Key responses from the ministries
MLIT: Deployment in various sectors will be considered while observing technological and market trends of perovskite solar cells
MAFF: As for local production and consumption of renewable energy, there is no intention to limit its local use to agriculture alone. However, initiatives that sell electricity via PPAs to agriculture-related facilities and the food industry, etc. and return the profits to agriculture, are important
Chairperson Hirotaka Yamauchi
Overall, there are concerns about the gap between the targets and the actual results, and thorough discussions on how to address this issue are needed. It comes down to how we can expand PV introduction to public facilities based on the Act on Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures, infrastructures such as airports, roads, and railways, as well as agrivoltaics. At the next meeting, in addition to the efforts of METI, the overall picture of future renewable energy policy will be discussed by integrating the initiatives of all relevant ministries
Figure 1 Results of interviews on the progress in the initiatives to achieve the targets of FY 2030 energy mix
Source: Materials from the 73rd meeting of the Subcommittee for Large-volume Introduction of Renewable Energy and Next Generation Electricity Network (May 27, 2025), compiled by RTS Corporation