Japan’s industry minister, Hiroshi Kajiyama, on Friday said that the country would launch measures to speed up the closure of inefficient old coal-burning power plants by 2030. However, he said that Japan would continue to support the building of newer, more efficient coal power plants, suggesting that the move was not a significant shift in energy policy.
According to Kajiyama, the measures would include new rules, tax incentives, and other policies to reduce coal’s share of Japan’s power mix from 32% currently to 26% by 2030. He also noted that the ministry would soon complete talks with other government agencies to tighten conditions for the export of coal-fired power plant technology.
A local media reported on Thursday that Japan would permanently shut or mothball around 100 old coal plants by 2030. Kimiko Hirata, the International Director of Kiko Network, an anti-coal NGO, said the moves were a significant step forward but were still totally insufficient.
