Japan Growing in Renewable Energy Sources

A man watches waves break into anti-tsunami barriers after a storm in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture on September 16, 2013. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), operator of the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, said on Monday it released what was believed to be untainted rainwater around the storage tank areas into the ocean in order to avoid flooding near the tanks due to heavy rains by Typhoon Man-yi

        According to new research released by NPD Solarbuzz, Japan has become one of only five countries to have achieved 10 gigawatts of cumulative solar capacity. While aiming to diversify its energy mix, Japan is developing its renewable energy sector, especially as it steers away from nuclear power following the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011. The development of solar power in Japan slowed in the mid-2000s, partly due to a 10-year energy plan that favored nuclear power.
       With a shifting of focus toward renewable energy, and after a new law approving feed-in tariffs for renewable energy was passed last year, the Japanese government is giving incentives for the use of solar energy. The policy requires utility companies in Japan to buy electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind at a premium price for the next 20 years.