Hurray for Putting One's Money Where One's Mouth Is!

Renewable power, not nuclear power! Sounds good, but can it be accomplished? Japan has taken a big step toward making electricity from renewable sources practical--supporting the development of a storage battery for the proverbial rainy day.

Here's how Jiji news in The Japan Times online reports the new development:


Big battery eyed as green energy cure

Six-story Hokkaido cell to keep power flowing on dark, windless days


JIJI

Sep 25, 2013


Japan will build the world’s largest storage battery system in Hokkaido as early as this autumn in a bid to rectify fluctuations in the electricity produced by renewable energy sources.

The project is aimed at promoting renewable energy by addressing a key defect — inconsistent power generation.

The nation’s utilities are required to buy electricity generated by solar, wind and other green power sources at fixed prices under the feed-in tariff system introduced in July 2012.

But the electricity generated by such sources accounts for only 1.6 percent of the nation’s total, partly because solar and wind power are dependent on the vagaries of the weather.

To raise renewable energy’s role the national energy mix, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry pushed for the development of a large storage system that would store electricity when weather conditions are favorable and dispense it when the weather fails.

Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. and Hokkaido Electric Power Co. are leading the storage project, and the ministry has provided ¥20 billion to cover all development and manufacturing costs.

“A subsidy in full is the exception of exceptions,” a senior METI official said.