Japan wants more geothermal instead of nuclear

The Fukushima nuclear accident is still fresh in minds of many Japanese people so it's really no surprise that Japan is on the lookout for alternative energy sources that would be able to replace nuclear power plants. One of these alternative sources is geothermal energy and judging by the latest reports Japan is currently considering at least 21 new geothermal energy projects.

The introduction of feed in tariffs has played major role in making geothermal energy projects popular to investors (above-market rates for power derived from underground sources regardless of plant size, are encouraging new geothermal energy projects). Among these 21 announced projects there are seven where small-sized binary turbines will likely be used. The ongoing studies will determine the capacity for these projects.

The above mentioned feed in tariffs for geothermal include 27.3 yen per kilowatt hour for plants with capacity of 15,000 kilowatts or larger, and 42 yen for smaller plants, both for the period of 15 years.

Up to now, Japan paid little attention to small scale geothermal power plants with country's geothermal energy development being primarily focused on several large-scale projects concentrated in the Hokkaido and Tohoku regions in northern Japan as well as the southern island of Kyushu.

Japan is currently the home to 17 geothermal power plants, with a total capacity of 520 MW. Shinichiro Fukushima, an official in charge of geothermal energy at the ministry, remains hopeful that geothermal energy will play much bigger role in Japan's energy market in years to come.