Japan’s Next-Gen Energy Startups: Building the Hardware for Self-Sufficiency

Japan’s push for decarbonization is only half the story. The country also faces a structural vulnerability: it produces barely 13% of the energy it consumes, one of the lowest self-sufficiency ratios...

Power Balance Outlook for Winter 2025/26

METI and OCCTO released the outlook for Winter 2025/26 power supply-demand balance at the end of October. This season is expected to be one of the most challenging periods in recent years due to stru...

Next-Gen Energy Startups: Cutting Emissions Through AI and Efficiency

Prime Minister Takaichi’s administration recently identified 17 strategic fields for public-private investment to revive Japan’s economy – with clean energy (GX), fusion power, and energy security at...

Too Strategic to Lose: Why Japan Won’t Cut Russian LNG imports

The U.S. is intensifying efforts to inhibit an important revenue source for the Kremlin – LNG. While Europe is slowly shaking its dependence on Russian LNG, Washington is also turning up the diplomat...

Push For Geothermal: Smart Opportunity or Costly Gamble?

Japan has decided to get serious about geothermal energy for the first time since the 1990s. METI’s new geothermal target – 7.7 GW of installed capacity by 2050 – sounds modest next to solar or wind ...