The share of fossil fuels in Japan’s power supply slumped to the lowest on record in the first half of 2025, as nuclear and solar electricity generation is growing.
Resource-poor Japan, a major importer of LNG, crude oil, and coal, saw its utility-scale electricity supply slump below 60% for the first time between January and June, according to data from clean energy think tank Ember cited by Reuters columnist Gavin Maguire.
At the same time, low-carbon electricity supply – nuclear and renewables – saw the highest level in more than a decade, as Japan is slowly re-opening some nuclear capacities after they were closed for safety checks following the Fukushima disaster in 2011.
Solar power generation and nuclear power supply have grown in recent years, to eat up part of the share of fossil fuels in power supply of the G-7 economy.
As part of its decarbonization plans, Japan has made a U-turn in nuclear energy policy and plans to rely more on nuclear reactors for its power supply in the coming decades. The country looks to have 20% of electricity supply coming from nuclear power by 2040, up from below 10% now.
Before the Fukushima meltdown in 2011, nuclear energy accounted for about 30% of Japan’s electricity mix.
In renewable energy sources, solar power generation has jumped 25 times since 2010, according to estimates by Reuters’ Maguire. Bioenergy power plant production has more than doubled over the past decade and a half, and so has electricity production from wind farms.
Japan is looking to develop its offshore wind potential, but it has been struggling amid a challenging environment for the offshore wind sector globally in recent years.
Japan has a plan to have offshore wind projects with a total capacity of 10 GW developed by 2030 and 30 GW-45 GW by 2040. The country has held three auctions to award capacity so far, but major developers have been reviewing their options in Japan amid headwinds in the sector globally, with surging costs and supply-chain delays.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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