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New government sees Japan to focus again on nuclear power

New government sees Japan to focus again on nuclear power Tsuruga Nuclear Plant, Fukui, Japan (source: flickr/ Eunheui, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 27 Dec 2012

The recent change in government and shift away from the abolishment of nuclear power in Japan, likely doesn't improve things for geothermal development in the country.

With the change in government, there also seems to be a shift in strategy as it relates to the abolishment of Nuclear power in Japan.

The new Prime Minister, Sinzo Abe, who is known to be a clear advocate for nuclear power, had already promised in its pre-election campaign to return to nuclear power. His new industry minister already announced that the first new nuclear power plant will go online shortly.

The new government considers the abolishment of nuclear power simply not feasible from an economic perspective. It is so far not clear what this shift means to the feed-in-tariffs or the strategy for renewables in Japan. But in general it doesn’t make things easier for the development of geothermal projects in Japan.