On March 25, 2019, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced that it would continue selling non-fossil fuel energy certificates in Fiscal Year 2019. In May 2018, METI began to issue the certificates to certify electricity generated by renewable energy sources under the Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) Scheme for Renewable Energy, and established a non-fossil fuel energy trading market, which allows retail electricity providers (REPs) to purchase certificates representing the non-fossil fuel value.
If REPs sell electricity with the non-fossil fuel energy certificates, it is considered as renewable energy, which enables energy users to utilize their compliance with RE 100, an initiative launched by the Climate Group of the United Kingdom (UK) and the CDP, which is championing the use of 100% renewable energy for electricity for business operations.[1] The Climate Group of the UK, which seeks to accelerate action on climate change, is committed to work with global leaders and enterprises to tackle climate change.[2] CDP is a British non-profit organization that provides a discussion platform for companies, states, and investors to control their environmental impacts.
In February 2019, METI conducted a demonstration project in collaboration with many REPs and power producers to identify the origin of renewable energy sources based on their non-fossil energy value, as well as to confirm that it would be able to improve the FIT scheme. The non-fossil fuel energy trading market aims to encourage electric buyers to achieve the target ratio of non-fossil fuel energy set by the Act on the Promotion of Use of Non-Fossil Energy Sources and Effective Use of Fossil Energy Materials by Energy Suppliers.[3]
[2] https://www.theclimategroup.org/about
[3] https://www.meti.go.jp/press/2018/03/20190325005/20190325005.html