Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP: A Restart, Not a Resolution

Japan’s long and contentious return to nuclear energy has finally reached a highly desired though long-delayed goal. On November 21, Niigata Governor Hanazumi Hideyo agreed to restart the Kashiwazaki...

Japan’s LNG costs will increasingly be set by AI servers in Ohio

Japan’s LNG imports are on the cusp of a paradigm shift. Trade and geopolitical ties are likely to follow. For most of the last five decades, Japan has been the world’s leading LNG buyer and an in...

CCS Framework Suggests Industry’s Future Lies in Serving as a Public Utility

Japan is finally assembling the regulatory framework needed to turn carbon capture and storage (CCS) into a functioning industrial system. A METI working group has laid out how storage sites will be ...

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...