Japan Mulling Auction Process for Large Solar Project Approvals
- Government currently sets tariff annually for solar producers
- Approvals should be given to developers with grid connections
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Japan is considering an auction process to allow solar power competitors to outbid each other for approvals to build large projects in an effort to drive down costs.
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is seeking to overhaul its current incentive program that is based on a so-called feed-in tariff, or guaranteed payouts, offered to renewable energy producers. That solar tariff is set annually by the government to reflect equipment and operational costs and has dropped every year since it started in July 2012.