Energy efficiency and conservation subcommittee completes detailed plan of “Act on the Rational Use of Energy” and determines target values toward enforcement in April
On February 15th, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy (an advisory committee of the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry) summarized a detailed plan toward enforcement of the Revised Act on the Rational Use of Energy. The plan sets a goal of the amount of electricity coming from non-fossil energy sources in FY2030 in automobile manufacturers and electric furnace manufacturers to 59% of the total electricity consumption. To facilitate demand response (DR), the subcommittee plans to build a system to require manufacturers to indicate the number of DR implementations and amount of energy demand controlled with DR in periodical reports.The plan is to enforce the Act on the Rational Use of Energy with a new formal name, “the Act on the Rational Use of Energy and Transition to Non-Fossil Energy”, on April 1st. The act will newly require specified business operators of which annual total
energy consumption is 1,500 kL or more in crude oil equivalent to establish goals toward transition to non-fossil energy and mid- to long-term plans, and to periodically report the status of the use of non-fossil energy.
For the major five industries, which are the steel, chemical, cement manufacturing, paper and automobile manufacturing industries, the Japanese government determines the target values of the use of non-fossil energy sources in FY2030 as guides. Each company in the industries will have a duty to establish a target value based on the guide and report the progress each fiscal year. The government will also require the specified business operators which do not fall into the major five industries to establish a target ratio of non-fossil electricity and a plan to achieve the target, and to periodically report the status.
The subcommittee has decided that the DR implementation status should be included in periodical reports. In particular, the plan is to make it mandatory to indicate the number of times of DR implementations in periodical reports from FY2023. There is also a plan to develop a system to publish good standing business operators and support with subsidies with the aim of disseminating and expanding DR.