Consideration on Japanese market designs realizing low-carbon society through advanced technologies development

摘要

Though recent electric power demand has been saturating, electric power network is still expanding for connecting new power sources and improving reliable linkage capacity. Moreover, low -carbon society is a key subject in many countries and an electric power system will play a central role in realizing low-carbon society with the development of advanced technologies.To realize low-carbon system, electric utilities have worked on promoting high-efficient thermal powers, nuclear power and renewable energies. “Act on sophisticated energy supply-demand structure” was legislated to promote the efforts of utility companies. In addition, support measures are designed to expanding renewable energies. The main features are “Feed-in-Tariff (FIT)”, and “priority dispatching”. Utilities are obligated to purchase renewable energies at FIT. Additional FIT Act was enacted to purchase all outputs of any renewable resources in 2011. A new FIT system will allow transmission system operators control renewable energies only if the supply security is violated without control of renewables.Great East Japan Earthquake followed by Fukushima Crisis will affect Japanese national energy policies in a way that further integration of renewable energies, further improvement in energy efficiency on the demand side and electricity market reforms considering advanced technologies such as smart meters, energy storages and IT would be accelerated.The main technologies described in the present paper are (a) control technologies of renewable energies by two-way communications, (b) smart meter technologies, (c) Energy Management Systems (EMS), (d) Battery Energy Storage (BES) technologies. Early establishment of them is expected by conducting demonstration tests. Some pilot programs integrating these technologies have been conduced in four regions funded by METI. The paper describes the background of needs on these technologies and details on demonstration projects.