5 THE POLITICS OF NUCLEAR POWER PLANT RESTARTS …
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In Tohoku, METI funded lead–acid batteries for three wind power
projects: two storage batteries with a combined capacity of 24.4 MWh
for a 36.1 MW capacity wind farm in Noshiro City, Akita prefecture; a
17.3 MWh battery for a 25.3 MW capacity wind farm in Ichinohe town,
Iwate prefecture; and a 20.7 MWh battery for a 32.2 MW capacity wind
farm in Rokkasho 16 and Yokohama villages in Aomori prefecture. METI
subsidized lithium-ion batteries for seven solar PV projects in Hokkaido:
a 13.8 MWh battery for a 28 MW solar PV plant in Chitose, that included
funding from a large Korean electric power company; a 8.3 MWh battery
for a 25 MW solar PV plant in Tomakomai; a 9 MWh battery for a 17 MW
solar PV plant in Shinhidaka town; a 2.2 MWh battery for a 4 MW solar
PV plant in Obihiro city; a 6.75 MWh battery for a 14.5 MW solar PV
plant in Kushiro town; a 8.3 MWh battery for a 20 MW solar PV project
in Akkeshi town; and a 7.2 MW battery for a 17.5 MW solar PV project in
Shiriuchi town. In Kyushu, METI funded four battery projects for solar
PV. It funded a 1.2 MWh lithium-ion battery for a 0.5 MW solar PV
facility (part of a larger 1.99 MWh plant) in Kumamoto city, Kumamoto
prefecture; a 7.1 MWh lead–acid battery for a 1.1 MWh solar PV plant
in Miyazaki city, Miyazaki prefecture; and a 1 MWh lithium-ion battery
for a 1.75 MWh solar PV plant in Amagi town on the remote island of
Tokunoshima, Kagoshima prefecture (SII 2017, slides 23–36).
Perhaps the most ambitious METI storage battery grant under its
emergency subsidy system was for a 1.2 MW solar PV plant that was built
in Isa city, Kagoshima prefecture, Kyushu. The developer received a 240million Yen subsidy from METI (approximately USD 2.23 million) that
covered more than one-third of the total construction cost for the entire
project of approximately 700 million Yen (USD 6.5 million). This subsidy
was used toward the purchase of a 6.5 MWh lithium-ion battery from
South Korea (Kaneko 2017), allowing nearly 6 hours of stored generation for release at night. In addition to receiving the subsidy, the decision
to add a battery and use a DC connection allowed the developer to negotiate better connection terms with Kyushu EPCO and reduced land rent
terms from Isa city (Kaneko 2017).
Although the Abe administration’s energy policy has been dismissed
as little more than industrial policy masquerading as an environmental
policy (Incerti and Lipscy 2018), it is striking that this subsidy system
lacked “buy Japanese” requirements, even though lithium-ion batteries
are a strategic industry with major Japanese manufacturers such as Panasonic. The Isa-city project used an imported battery. Overall, 56% of the
115
In Tohoku, METI funded lead–acid batteries for three wind power
projects: two storage batteries with a combined capacity of 24.4 MWh
for a 36.1 MW capacity wind farm in Noshiro City, Akita prefecture; a
17.3 MWh battery for a 25.3 MW capacity wind farm in Ichinohe town,
Iwate prefecture; and a 20.7 MWh battery for a 32.2 MW capacity wind
farm in Rokkasho 16 and Yokohama villages in Aomori prefecture. METI
subsidized lithium-ion batteries for seven solar PV projects in Hokkaido:
a 13.8 MWh battery for a 28 MW solar PV plant in Chitose, that included
funding from a large Korean electric power company; a 8.3 MWh battery
for a 25 MW solar PV plant in Tomakomai; a 9 MWh battery for a 17 MW
solar PV plant in Shinhidaka town; a 2.2 MWh battery for a 4 MW solar
PV plant in Obihiro city; a 6.75 MWh battery for a 14.5 MW solar PV
plant in Kushiro town; a 8.3 MWh battery for a 20 MW solar PV project
in Akkeshi town; and a 7.2 MW battery for a 17.5 MW solar PV project in
Shiriuchi town. In Kyushu, METI funded four battery projects for solar
PV. It funded a 1.2 MWh lithium-ion battery for a 0.5 MW solar PV
facility (part of a larger 1.99 MWh plant) in Kumamoto city, Kumamoto
prefecture; a 7.1 MWh lead–acid battery for a 1.1 MWh solar PV plant
in Miyazaki city, Miyazaki prefecture; and a 1 MWh lithium-ion battery
for a 1.75 MWh solar PV plant in Amagi town on the remote island of
Tokunoshima, Kagoshima prefecture (SII 2017, slides 23–36).
Perhaps the most ambitious METI storage battery grant under its
emergency subsidy system was for a 1.2 MW solar PV plant that was built
in Isa city, Kagoshima prefecture, Kyushu. The developer received a 240million Yen subsidy from METI (approximately USD 2.23 million) that
covered more than one-third of the total construction cost for the entire
project of approximately 700 million Yen (USD 6.5 million). This subsidy
was used toward the purchase of a 6.5 MWh lithium-ion battery from
South Korea (Kaneko 2017), allowing nearly 6 hours of stored generation for release at night. In addition to receiving the subsidy, the decision
to add a battery and use a DC connection allowed the developer to negotiate better connection terms with Kyushu EPCO and reduced land rent
terms from Isa city (Kaneko 2017).
Although the Abe administration’s energy policy has been dismissed
as little more than industrial policy masquerading as an environmental
policy (Incerti and Lipscy 2018), it is striking that this subsidy system
lacked “buy Japanese” requirements, even though lithium-ion batteries
are a strategic industry with major Japanese manufacturers such as Panasonic. The Isa-city project used an imported battery. Overall, 56% of the