Since the summer of 2024, various councils and an expert working group (WG) of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Ministry of the Environment have been conducting deliberating on the two new plans.
In addition to the drafts of the two plans, a draft of the GX 2040 Vision was also presented on December 26, 2024, detailing a national strategy for reshaping Japan’s industrial structure toward the year 2040. The national government expects to finalize the Vision by March 31, 2025, incorporating the other two plans.
As for the draft of the next Strategic Energy Plan is concerned, FEPC has emphasized—in light of the expected overall increase in electricity demand—that the mission of electric power operators is to “take all necessary measures to ensure the needed decarbonized power sources.” That stance is predicated on the basic principles of the government’s S+3E policy: namely, the “S” of safety along with the three “E’s” of energy security, economic efficiency, and environmental protection.
According to law, the Strategic Energy Plan must be reviewed once every three years. After the government issues the new plan by the end of the current fiscal year (i.e., by March 31, 2025), it is expected to be verified without delay, in a forward-looking manner. Concerning that point, FEPC said, “We expect the government to carry out its policies effectively and without fail, while maintaining a sense of speed.”
FEPC is also discussing the following items individually, consistent with the Strategic Energy Plan:
- Renewable
- Nuclear
- Fossil-fuel
- Electrification
- Green transformation (GX)
- Power system reform
As far as nuclear energy is concerned, FEPC pointed out again that nuclear power’s installed capacity in Japan is expected to decline starting around 2040, as also discussed by the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy,
The latest draft plan has removed all references to “reducing dependency on nuclear power as much as possible,” as earlier drafts had mentioned. On the matter of building new and replacement nuclear power plants, the new draft also states that specific measures will be sought to “install next-generation advanced reactors at nuclear operators’ NPP sites where reactors are to be decommissioned.”
However, FEPC has proposed in its recently submitted comments that the development and installation of new reactors—“in the interests of using nuclear energy sustainably in the future”—should not be limited to only those situations (i.e., only at sites with decommissioned reactors).
Speaking at his January 17 press conference marking the new year, FEPC Chairman HAYASHI Kingo started his comments by mentioning the restart of currently idle NPPs on the premise of ensured safety. He then moved on to the need to maintain and reinforce Japan’s supply chains, emphasizing that “the country must have a national target for the scale of development.”
