Japan’s METI offers subsidy for geothermal information and education projects
Hot springs in Unzen, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan (source: David Pursehouse / flickr, Creative Commons)
Carlo Cariaga
26 Mar 2025
The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry of Japan is accepting applications for subsidy of activities to promote understanding and education on geothermal.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) of Japan has announced a subsidy round for projects for promoting the understanding of geothermal power generation.
The call for applications for “Subsidies for Projects Promoting the Understanding of Geothermal Power Generation” is ongoing and will close on 14 April 2025.
More details on the subsidy round and how to apply can be found at the METI website.
The purpose of this subsidy is to promote understanding of geothermal resource development among residents and others living in the vicinity of geothermal resource development sites. Projects to be subsidized are those that contribute to promoting understanding of geothermal resource development. These are to be carried out at sites where geothermal resource development is underway or is planned for the future with the aim of introducing geothermal power generation.
Activities that will be covered by the subsidy may include:
1. Study sessions and other events
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- Seminars and study sessions on geothermal resource development
- Visits to geothermal power generation facilities (in principle referring to domestic facilities)
- Management of meetings of stakeholders at geothermal resource development sites
- Preliminary survey and examination of hot water utilization projects
The target locations for this subsidy are those where geothermal resource development is underway with a target output of 1000 kW or more, or where geothermal resource development is planned for the future.
2. Hot spring impact survey project
This will cover drilling for hot spring resources in the event that natural hot spring water discharge is excessively reduced for some reason after the geothermal resource development has advanced. The target for this subsidy are locations where geothermal resource development is underway with a target output of 5000 kW or more, or where there are existing power plants with an output of 5000 kW or more.
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