Japan needs more practical steps to revive nuclear power. Energy mix planning should not be only about supply, but also demand. And, METI’s view that electricity consumption in Japan will decline is wrong.

Those are some initial points raised by experts that were selected by METI to help draft the country’s next Basic (Strategic) Energy Plan. The document is revised every three years and serves as the basis for both state and private efforts. It will enter its 7th edition this year once a draft is released in late spring to early summer. Work on this draft has officially begun.

Final approval of the new Basic Energy Plan will be on the agenda before the Diet elections that are scheduled before September 2024. It will be followed by Cabinet approval.

National strategies for the energy sector often serve as idealized projections that set a course rather than precise roadmaps. Still, Japan’s current Basic Energy Plan foreshadowed a greater government emphasis on renewable energy and the emergence of a new electricity source: the co-firing of hydrogen / ammonia. It also served as the framework on which the government based its United Nation’s commitment to reducing emissions 46% by FY2030.