No. 10: A total of 93 items are subject to deregulation in the draft to promote renewable energy (October 20, 2011)

The energy and environment subcommittee of the Japanese government issued a draft for the reform of regulations and systems. The draft covers 93 items to promote renewable energy. They include mitigation of the existing regulations on geothermal and wind generation inside national parks and abandoned farmlands. Regulations on the location of hydraulic power generation will be mitigated, and safety regulations stipulated by the Electric Enterprise Law will be modified to facilitate the introduction of small-scale generation and new technology. Actually, the draft consists of three themes: (1) Reform of the power system, (2) Faster introduction of renewable energy, and (3) Promotion of energy saving.

To be specific, regulations on national parks and abandoned farmlands will be modified greatly to simplify the procedures of the feasibility research and excavation necessary for the construction of a power plant, and special measures law of the Agricultural Land Act and the Forest Law will be formulated. To foster small-scale hydraulic power generation, the government will modify the Electric Enterprise Law and the River Law besides mitigating the regulations on water right. At the same time, the subcommittee will publish guidelines to clarify the procedures for negotiations and adjustments with people and organizations involved in the fishery industry to introduce ocean wind generation that can rarely be found in Japan at present. The Japanese government plans to enforce the deregulation within the year to minimize the increase of electricity cost and prevent power shortage in the peak time through promoting power using renewable energy.