Insights & Analysis
A straight-to-the-point monthly summary of important regulatory discussions and changes in Japan's power market.
In the May 2026 issue:
- Summary of METI, OCCTO, and other committee meetings
- Proposed revised thresholds for solar project EIA
- Revised capacity market withdrawal penalty system proposal
- Kyushu renewable curtailment system revision
- METI power business license and registration changes
- Nuclear power plant operational status updates
- ...and more
The next issue will be released on July 15, 2026.
Enehub Charts of the Week
Primary balancing market underwent several changes on March 14, 2026, including reduced procurement volumes, a shift to day-ahead trading in 30-minute blocks, and a lower bid cap. This drove a sharp decline in battery storage clearing prices and narrowed the online-offline gap.
Day-ahead power prices in Japan have shown upward pressure since mid-March 2026 amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, particularly during morning and evening hours.
While only a small share is expected to materialize, Japan’s grid-scale battery storage connection queue now exceeds 200GW, including over 180GW of projects in the connection study stage and more than 30GW in the contracting phase. Tohoku, at 71GW, has the largest volume of connection study applications, more than double that of second-placed Tokyo. Tokyo, with 6.3GW, leads the contracting stage. Hokkaido has the most connected capacity at 190MW as of the end of February 2026.
