Japan’s missing piece of clean power

Japan has the lowest share of clean electricity among G7 nations, with wind generating less than 1% of its power in 2022. While the 6th Strategic Energy Plan targets 59% clean power by 2030, it only allocates 5.7 GW to offshore wind, representing just 4% of the collective G7 target of 150 GW. Alternative pathways from Berkeley Lab and the Renewable Energy Institute suggest that leveraging Japan's theoretical offshore wind potential of 392 GW could enable the country to reach 80% to 90% decarbonised electricity by 2035.

• Japan's clean energy performance is the lowest among G7 countries; in 2022, only 29% of its electricity came from clean sources, while 71% came from fossil fuels. Japan also has the highest share of coal generation in the G7 at 33%.
• Wind power is a significant weakness in Japan's energy mix, generating less than 1% of electricity in 2022, compared to an 11% average for the rest of the G7. In contrast, the US generated over 10%, and Germany and the UK both generated over 20% from wind in the same year.
• Japan's current offshore wind targets are far below its theoretical potential and G7 collective goals. The 6th Strategic Energy Plan targets 5.7 GW of offshore wind by 2030, which is only 4% of the G7's 150 GW target and just over 1% of Japan's theoretical potential of 392 GW.
• Two alternative pathways suggest Japan could achieve much higher decarbonisation by 2035 through wind and solar. The Berkeley Lab report forecasts 90% decarbonised electricity by 2035 (with offshore wind providing 18%), while the Renewable Energy Institute (REI) forecasts 80% renewables electricity by 2035.

APA

Jones, D., Lee, U., & Rahmani, A. A. (2023). Japan’s missing piece of clean power. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/FINAL-Japans-missing-piece-of-clean-power-Ember.pdf

Chicago

Jones, Dave, Uni Lee, and Ardhi Arsala Rahmani. Japan’s missing piece of clean power. Ember, 2023. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/FINAL-Japans-missing-piece-of-clean-power-Ember.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Jones |first1=Dave |last2=Lee |first2=Uni |last3=Rahmani |first3=Ardhi Arsala |title=Japan’s missing piece of clean power |publisher=Ember |date=18 May 2023 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/FINAL-Japans-missing-piece-of-clean-power-Ember.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jones2023japans, author = {Jones, Dave and Lee, Uni and Rahmani, Ardhi Arsala}, title = {{Japan’s missing piece of clean power}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2023}, month = may, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/FINAL-Japans-missing-piece-of-clean-power-Ember.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }