17.3 GW Of Approved FiT Solar PV Projects In Japan Being Canceled Due To “Insufficient Grid Capacity”

It’s looking increasingly likely that 17.336 GW of approved FIT solar PV projects in Japan will be canceled as a result of “insufficient grid capacity,” according to the Japan-based solar energy consultancy RTS Corporation.

That striking proclamation was made following a recent meeting of the Japanese Grid Issues Working Group that the consultancy firm participated in.

Considering that the past few years have seen the approval of about 70 GW of solar projects under the country’s FIT program, I wouldn’t say that this is extremely surprising, but it isn’t what I would call “expected” either. Still, the cancellations certainly aren’t written in stone yet — there are other possibilities still left.

The RTS Corporation conclusions were arrived at following a meeting of a working group featuring a number of Japanese utilities and the country’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) — the administrator of the solar FiT program.

As per the numbers compiled by RTS Corporation, out of a total of 69.4 GW of solar PV projects (about 1.37 million arrays), only around 51 GW are likely to be grid connected.

The consultancy firm does note, though, that some of those ~17.3 GW of projects may end up being developed if battery capacity or “unlimited grid curtailment” is utilized/integrated with the project.

This recent announcement marks the first time that the subject has been broached officially on the public level, but it has been alluded to previously. In particular, RTS Corporation has previously noted that many utilities may be set on retaining some capacity in reserve (potentially for closed nuclear capacity).

Hmm.