The government has disclosed about 100 reform and deregulation steps to promote renewable energy among Japans’ power industry.
The steps revealed Thursday include shortening the amount of time required to assess the environmental impact of building and running wind farms, and deregulating the process of setting up small hydroelectric plants in fiscal 2012. The Cabinet is expected to approve the package in the near future and various ministries will revise rules concerning electricity generation.
The measures include exempting solar power stations from regulations under the factory location act, to ease the obligation on operators to provide green space at such sites and encourage the construction of large-scale solar power facilities. The government also would give the go-ahead for geothermal power development in national parks for firms that drill wells outside the parks.