Arya News - The plan marks a sharp turn in Japan`s energy strategy — one driven as much by supply-chain security as by decarbonisation goals.
TOKYO – Details of a proposed policy package for energy diversification, compiled by the government in response to the instability in the Middle East, were revealed on Tuesday.
According to sources, Japan intends to accelerate the so-called Green Transformation (GX) toward decarbonization, maximizing the use of nuclear power and actively investing in next-generation solar cells. It also seeks to diversify the procurement of fossil fuels by strengthening measures to secure oil supplies that do not pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Titled the “Comprehensive package for strengthening the resilience of the energy supply-demand structure,” the plan was to be finalized and announced at the GX Implementation Council on Wednesday. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was scheduled to attend the council.
The policy package contains the following three pillars:
Diversifying fossil fuel procurement sources and reducing risks Accelerating and strengthening GX initiatives, such as nuclear power and domestically produced renewable energy Enhancing resilience through international cooperation via “Powerr Asia” (Partnership on Wide Energy and Resources Resilience Asia), a Japan-led energy procurement framework. To diversify fuel sources, the government will provide financial support — in the form of subsidies for increased transportation costs — to businesses that shift their procurement of crude oil, naphtha and other petroleum products away from the Strait of Hormuz.
Through the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security, the government will also provide funding for the construction of pipelines designed to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. In addition, it plans to introduce a new national crude oil stockpiling system aimed at securing naphtha, which is currently excluded from stockpiling efforts.
To move away from dependence on fossil fuels, the government will work to utilize nuclear power. It will rebuild up to five reactors in the 2040s and up to 14 reactors in the 2050s, accelerating research and development toward the introduction of next-generation reactors and small modular reactors (SMRs).
Investments in domestic industrial infrastructure will also be promoted, including next-generation Perovskite Solar Cells and geothermal power generation. The supply of fossil fuel alternatives, such as hydrogen and ammonia, will be expanded as well.
Concerns over the supply of naphtha and other petroleum products have spread following the United States and Israeli attacks on Iran, which effectively led to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Emergency measures are gradually resolving the bottleneck in petroleum product supplies, but the government has determined that structural measures are essential to prepare for future emergencies. It plans to submit relevant bills to the extraordinary session of the Diet this autumn and will prioritize funding for related measures in the year-end budget.