The electric power industry in Japan covers the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric energy in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

Consumption

In 2008, Japan consumed an average of 8507 kWh/person of electricity. That was 115% of the EU15 average of 7409 kWh/person and 95% of the OECD average of 8991 kWh/person.

Electricity per person in Japan (kWh/ hab.)
	Use	Production	Import	Imp. %	Fossil	Nuclear Nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...	Nuc. Nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...  %	Other RE Renewable energy Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...	Bio Biomass Biomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as biofuel.... +waste*	Wind	Non RE Renewable energy Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...  use*	RE Renewable energy Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...  %
2004	8,459	8,459	0		5,257	2,212	26.1%	844	146		7,469	11.7%
2005	8,633	8,633	0		5,378	2,387	27.6%	715	153		7,765	10.1%
2006	9,042	9,042	0		6,105	2,066	22.8%	716	154		8,171	9.6%
2008	8,507	8,507	0		5,669	2 010	23.6%	682	147		7,679	9.7%
2009	8,169	8,169	0		5,178	2,198	26.9%	637*	128	27*	7,377	9.7%
* Other RE Renewable energy Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...  is waterpower, solar and geothermal electricity Geothermal electricity Geothermal electricity is electricity generated from geothermal energy.Technologies in use include dry steam power plants, flash steam power plants and binary cycle power plants...  and wind power Wind power Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....  until 2008 * Non RE use = use – production of renewable electricity * RE % = (production of RE / use) * 100% Note: European Union Renewable energy in the European Union The countries of the European Union are currently the number two global leaders in the development and application of renewable energy. Promoting the use of renewable energy sources is important both to the reduction of the EU's dependence on foreign energy imports, and in meeting targets to combat...  calculates the share of renewable energies in gross electrical consumption.

Compared with other nations, electricity in Japan is relatively expensive.

Transmission

Electricity transmission in Japan is unusual because the country is divided for historical reasons into two regions each running at a different mains frequency.

Eastern Japan (including Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Kawasaki

Kawasaki, Kanagawa

is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, between Tokyo and Yokohama. It is the 9th most populated city in Japan and one of the main cities forming the Greater Tokyo Area and Keihin Industrial Area....

, Sapporo, Yokohama

Yokohama

is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...

, and Sendai) runs at 50 Hz; Western Japan (including Okinawa, Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

, Kyoto

Kyoto

is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

, Kobe

Kobe

, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...

, Nagoya, Hiroshima

Hiroshima

is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...

) runs at 60 Hz. This originates from the first purchases of generators from AEG

AEG

Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in 1883 by Emil Rathenau....

 for Tokyo in 1895 and from General Electric

General Electric

General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...

 for Osaka in 1896.

This frequency difference partitions Japan's national grid, so that power can only be moved between the two parts of the grid using frequency converters

Frequency changer

A frequency changer or frequency converter is an electronic device that converts alternating current of one frequency to alternating current of another frequency. The device may also change the voltage, but if it does, that is incidental to its principal purpose.Traditionally, these devices were...

, or HVDC transmission lines. The boundary between the two regions contains four back-to-back HVDC substations which convert the frequency; these are Shin Shinano

Shin Shinano

is the designation of a back-to-back high-voltage direct current facility in Japan and the location of the Shin Shinano Frequency Converter Station.Shin Shinano is located at -HVDC plant:...

, Sakuma Dam, Minami-Fukumitsu

Minami-Fukumitsu

Minami-Fukumitsu is the name given to an HVDC back-to-back station for the interconnection of the power grids of West and Eastern Japan. This facility went in service in March 1999. It operates with a voltage of 125 kV and can transfer a power up to 300 megawatts. The station is located in Nanto,...

, and the Higashi-Shimizu Frequency Converter.

The limitations of these links has been a major problem in providing power to the areas of Japan affected by the Fukushima nuclear accidents.

Mode of production

In 2008, the power sources for electric energy were 27% from coal, 26% from gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

, 13% from oil

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

, 24% from nuclear power

Nuclear power

Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...

, and 8% from hydro power.

Gross production of electricity by power source in Japan (TWh)
	Production	Coal	Gas	Oil	Nuclear Nuclear power in Japan Nuclear energy was a national strategic priority in Japan, but there has been concern about the ability of Japan's nuclear plants to withstand seismic activity...	Hydro	Other
2004	1,071	294	244	133	282	94	24
2008	1,075	288	283	139	258	83	24
2008		26.8%	26.3%	12.9%	24.0%	7.7%	2.2%

According to the IEA

International Energy Agency

The International Energy Agency is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization established in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis...

 the Japan gross production of electricity was 1,071 TWh in 2004 and 1,075 TWh in 2008, making it the third largest producer of electricity in 2008. Japan produced 5.3% of the world's electricity in that year.

Nuclear power

The installed nuclear capacity was 48 GW in 2008 and 45 GW in 2004. In 2008 Japan ranked third in nuclear electricity production with 258 TWh (9.4% of the world total).

Hydro power

In 2008 7.7% of Japan's electricity was produced from hydro power. Japan produced 83 TWh of hydro power with 47 GW capacity and ranked 9th in the world, producing 2.5% of the world's total hydro electricity.

Other

The Japanese government announced in May 2011 a goal of producing 20% of the nation's electricity from renewable sources, including solar, wind, and biomass, by the early 2020s.