Japan’s renewable energy options: costs and potential

By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, May 3, 1:41 PM

Japan’s shutdown of all its nuclear power plants leaves it with an energy gap, mostly being made up through greater use of costly imported LNG, coal and oil. Below are some details of the resource-scarce country’s “green energy” options.

HYDROELECTRIC: Mountainous, rainy Japan relies on hydroelectric power for about 8 percent of its electricity. Having already dammed virtually all possible sites, smaller hydroelectric facilities offer limited potential. Hydroelectric is also unstable since it depends on rainfall and water levels, making it ill-suited to replace the huge and consistent power capacity provided by nuclear plants.

SOLAR: Current capacity is about 3.5 gigawatts (GW), less than 1 percent of total power generation. Installing solar power is