A Brief History of Measures to Support Renewable Energy: Implications for Japan's FIT review obtained from domestic and foreign cases of support measures

摘要

In Japan, a projection of long-term energy supply and demand has shown that the ratio of power generated by renewable energy sources will expand by 2030, to between 22 and 24%. A feed-in-tariff (FIT) program has been in place as a supporting measure to encourage renewable energy power generation since 2012. However, issues such as a sharp increase in purchase cost moved some to suggest reviewing the program to balance both the meeting of the target and economic soundness. Prior to adopting FIT, Japan had the Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) program for electricity from renewable energy. FIT and RPS have become the main renewable energy support programs in other countries and regions as well. European countries, where FIT has a long operation history, have been going through a transitional phase of trial and error in recent years, including program revisions and termination, and retroactive changes in tariffs. New measures currently being adopted are the incorporation of the Feed-in-Premium (FIP) program with a view to have renewable energy support scheme and the electric power market work together, and a bidding system in which market competition determines the level of governmental assistance. This paper reviews the past renewable energy support (RPS and FIT) programs conducted in Japan and overseas, particularly from the standpoint of program cost and burden, and summarizes features of new support measures in Europe (FIP and competitive bidding). RPS in Japan faced an issue, beyond a challenge to determine an appropriate target, of the rising risk to secure profitability for renewable energy producers. On the other hand, the countries that chose FIT, which focuses on investment risk reduction, including Japan, have experienced difficulties in determining appropriate tariff, and its derivative effect, controlling the amount and rate of renewable energy introduction. FIP, which is increasingly implemented in Europe at present, provides both the certainty of investment that RPS tends to lack, and better economic rationality which FIT often falls short of providing. While these new European measures are yet to be proven at present, they are expected to show effectiveness in aspects such as reducing support cost. Japan will need to go through reconstruction of measures to support renewable energy taking into account the effect of the liberalization of an electric power market. This process will benefit from a study on the overseas cases which combines the introduction of market competition and the long-term/stable renewable energy support scheme.