Electricity generation from renewable energy Japan FY 2020, by energy source

In the fiscal year 2020, the electricity produced from solar power in Japan stood at approximately 79 terawatt hours. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and be less dependent on fossil fuel imports, the Japanese government is currently working on expanding electricity production from renewable energy sources.

 Renewable energy in Japan 

The share of renewable energy in electricity generation increased to close to 20 percent in recent years. Until 2020, hydropower represented the largest renewable energy source in Japan. But since the conventional hydropower potential is considered to be almost fully developed, a further increase in capacity is hardly possible. The country currently makes investments in solar power a priority.
The mountainous country has a lack of space for renewable power facilities on land. Therefore, it has recently made investments in floating solar panels and offshore wind farms with floating turbines. Wind energy currently only produces a small amount of energy supply, but the electricity production from offshore wind energy increased significantly in recent years.

 Current climate policy 

To realize its climate goals as a member of the Paris Agreement, the Japanese government plans to reduce its greenhouse emissions by 46 percent until 2030, compared to the level of 2013. Furthermore, the Japanese prime minister announced the goal for the country to become entirely carbon neutral by 2050, with a renewable energy share of around 50 percent.
Even though most Japanese people agreed that renewable energy generation should be increased to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the expansion of nuclear energy as a source of low-carbon energy will also be essential to meet this goal.