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Japan is making more moves in the renewable energy sector, truly stamping its green footprint impression onto the country's businessses. The government backed report suggests that corporate energy bills could rise by US$1.1bn a year by 2020 as a result of the country's new solar energy FiT scheme, accoring to Business Green.
The proposed incentive mechanism, to be introduced in April 2010, will allow utilities to pass on the extra cost of acquiring surplus solar power at above market rates to their customers.
The new report from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry states that Japan's business sector will see power costs increase by approximately $32m per month, that's $384m annually, for the first few years of the scheme. It adds that the figure may then triple in the following five-10 years to $95m per month, or $1.1bn annually.
Japan's 48m households will pay an average of $0.30 a month more, potentially rising to $0.90 - or $11 per year - by 2020, according to estimates.
Starting from November, under the FiT, utilities will be required to purchase surplus power generated from factories and households. Japan's 10 electricity companies will be obliged to pay $0.50/kWh for any power from homes, while businesses that feed energy from solar panels into the grid will receive $0.25/kWh.
The new report is the latest in a series of cost estimates related to Japan's carbon reduction efforts that are currently being calculated and publicised by the government.
