The Japanese authorities have suspended feed-in tariffs (FITs) and premiums for 342 agrivoltaic projects due to violations of new agricultural land regulations. Analyst Makoto Tajima tells pv magazine that this move could hinder the development of agrivoltaics in land-scarce Japan.
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said that the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE) has suspended FITs and feed-in premiums (FIPs) for 342 agrivoltaic power plants. The plants reportedly violated the revised Agricultural Land Act, which introduced stricter limits on deploying solar facilities on agricultural land in April.
The agency suspended incentives for these projects because they either failed to continue farming properly after installing the PV system or did not obtain farmland conversion permission within the three-year deadline after receiving the FIT or FIP contract.
The names of the affected PV plant owners were not disclosed.
“These actions were taken based on the law set forth this April, added to the existing ordinance and guidelines,” Japanese agrivoltaics analyst Makoto Tajima told pv magazine. “These are collections of previous directives; nothing is new except stricter actions against violators. This move was motivated by the worsening public image against PV development stimulated by mega solar parks, mainly on the mountain slopes. The ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party, is for restricting improper PV parks, including agrivoltaic facilities. After the party’s internal consultation, they devised a revised ordinance and compiled a guideline.”
Makoto warned that the new measures and restrictions could significantly impact the development of ground-mounted PV and agrivoltaics in Japan.
“We are very much concerned with these moves. PV and agrivoltaic development in Japan has been slowing down since the FIT expired,” he said. “While eliminating bad cases is reasonable, one-sided measures without promoting sound agrivoltaics may further slow development.”
Japan introduced its first rules for agrivoltaic development on agricultural land in 2021.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) recently identified land scarcity and grid congestion as key factors behind the limited success of Japan's six solar auctions.