Japan to amend electricity business law

Power companies would be forced to develop plans on working with other bodies during natural disasters.

The government of Japan has adopted a bill to revise the electricity business law, which intends to secure power in time of disaster, after some parts of the country experienced massive and prolonged power outages in the wake of natural disasters. The text would force power companies to develop contingency plans on working with other utilities, local governments and the Self-Defence Forces. In addition, utilities will have to share information on disaster damage and the availability of vehicles that can supply power, as well as coordinate recovery work and pool funds to aid companies damaged in a disaster.

In addition, the government has approved a bill to promote renewable power generation, as it plans to introduce a new renewable support scheme in April 2022. It would introduce a premium scheme offering renewable power producers a premium on top of the market price for their power generation. The existing feed-in tariff (FiT) system would then be scaled down towards a more market-oriented support scheme.

This article was originally published by Enerdata.