The government has decided to more than halve the country’s solar power feed-in tariffs by around the mid-2020s, informed sources have said.
The move is aimed at reducing the public burden of electricity bills, which include part of the costs of power companies’ mandatory solar power purchases from households and other companies under the system.
The industry ministry aims to cut the price for solar power generated by companies to ¥8.5 by around fiscal 2022 to 2024, from ¥18 per kilowatt-hour in fiscal 2018, and that for solar power made by households to ¥11, from ¥26, around fiscal 2025 to 2027, the sources said.
The planned reductions are expected to lower the Japanese tariffs to levels similar to those in European countries.
The feed-in tariff system was launched in Japan in 2012, with the aim of encouraging the introduction of solar power and other renewable energy equipment.
In fiscal 2018, power utilities’ purchasing costs under the system are projected to total ¥3.1 trillion, up 13 percent from the previous year. Of the total, ¥2.4 trillion would be borne by their customers.
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