Industry Report

Biomass in Japan: the case for small local plants

Mar 23, 2022 08:42Swiss Business Hub Japan in collaboration with Shulman Advisory G.K.

In its 6th Basic Energy Plan, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) announced a target of 8GW for installed biomass capacity in Japan by 2030. This would cover 5% of the country’s projected power demand in 2030 - up from 3.5% in the 5th Basic Energy Plan. In this factsheet we discuss current developments, projects, local players and business opportunities for foreign companies in the Japanese biomass market.

The overall biomass market in Japan, including power, steam and fuel, is expected to grow by 5.4% per year until 2025 and 3.7% per year through the following decade. This will come with opportunities for foreign players such as specialized hardware manufacturers, service providers for grid integration and companies with access to fuel or with know-how in fuel procurement and risk management.

Our factsheet covers the following aspects:

Policies supporting the development of biomass in Japan
Current projects and players
The case for biofuels
Areas of priority development

This is the sixth publication within our ten-part "the Japanese Energy Industry" series. Catch up on the already published parts of the series in the link section below.