The Act on Special Measures Concerning New Energy Use by Electric Utilities (FY 2002 Act No. 62, known as the Renewables Portfolio Standard Act, or RPS Act) establishes minimum amounts of electricity generated from new energy sources (hereinafter “renewable-energy-sourced electricity”) that should be used by electric utilities, and stipulates that utilities shall report on the results of efforts to meet this requirement in the previous fiscal year by June 1 each year. Based on the statutory reports submitted by electric utilities, the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy has compiled an overview of the fulfillment of the statutory requirements for FY 2010, including the status of facility certification and the implementation of the RPS Act.

In FY 2010, the RPS Act required 53 electricity utilities (ten electric power companies, five specified electric utilities, and 38 specified-scale electric utilities) to utilize a total of 11,014,697,000 kWh of renewable-energy-sourced electricity.

The FY 2010 reports from these electric utilities showed that all the regulated electric utilities except one used more renewable-energy-sourced electricity than the mandatory amount. The one that failed to meet the requirement ceased its electric utility business in June 2011.

Twenty-three electric utilities and 12 power producers banked*1 the excess amount of renewable energy-sourced electricity for FY 2011. The amount of banked electricity totaled 4,173,690,000 kWh (4,097,196,000 kWh by electricity utilities; 76,494,000 kWh by power producers).

*1 banking: If an electric utility supplies renewable energy-sourced electricity in excess of the required amount for the current fiscal year, the electric utility may transfer the excess amount to the next fiscal year to include it in that year’s performance. This practice is referred to as “banking.” Similarly, power producers making use of new energy sources may carry over their renewable- energy-sourced electricity equivalents to the next fiscal year.

The total amount of renewable-energy-sourced electricity that was supplied to electricity utilities from renewable energy power generation facilities was 10,245,907,844 kWh in FY 2010 (8,873,162,050 kWh in FY 2009). This includes 1,336,893,027 kWh of designated photovoltaic electricity*2 that does not count toward fulfillment of the requirements.

Total amount of renewable energy-sourced electricity (in kWh)

Power generation source	Electricity supplied, by energy source
Wind power	4,143,413,522
Hydroelectricity	989,079,899
Photovoltaic power	16,615,435
Biomass power	3,744,516,697
Geothermal power	10,535,868
Cogeneration	4,853,396
Total	8,909,014,817
Designated photovoltaic power	1,336,893,027
Grand total	10,245,907,844

(Reference) Banked power carried over from FY 2009 to FY 2010: 6,405,731,000 kWh

*2 “Designated photovoltaic electricity” refers to the kind of renewable-energy-sourced electricity produced at photovoltaic power generating facilities that the electric utilities are obliged to purchase under the “Excess Electricity Purchasing Scheme for Photovoltaic Power.” This electricity may not be applied to the fulfillment of obligations under the RPS Act.

In FY 2010, 202,455 renewable energy power generation facilities were certified pursuant to Article 9 of the RPS Act, and their installed capacity totaled 1,117,637 kW.

This brought the total number of certified renewable energy power generation facilities as of the end of FY 2010 to 720,587, and the cumulative installed capacity has reached 7,594,949 kW (6,486,158 kW as of the end of FY 2009).

FY 2010 certification status of renewable energy power generation facilities (end of FY 2010)

Power generation by source	Number of facilities (cases)			Installed capacity (kW)
	Certified	Scrapped	End of FY 2010	Certified	Scrapped	End of FY 2010
Wind power	16	2	389	138,478	1,130	2,451,676
Photovoltaic power	33	2	114	31,651	6	49,732
Hydroelectricity	23	2	498	5,385	1,130	207,708
Biomass power	14	0	364	126,225	0	2,141,106
Geothermal power	0	0	1	0	0	2,000
Cogeneration	4	3	33	294	39	14,324
Total	90	9	1,399	302,033	2,305	4,866,546
Designated photovoltaic power	202,365	1,825	719,188	815,604	6,541	2,728,403
Grand total	202,455	1,834	720,587	1,117,637	8,846	7,594,949

(Remarks)
1) The installed generation capacity of biomass power generating facilities was calculated by multiplying the facility capacity by the biomass energy ratio.
2) Among photovoltaic power generating facilities, those subject to purchase requirements under the Excess Electricity Purchasing Scheme for Photovoltaic Power, fall into the new power generation category of “designated photovoltaic power.”

July 14, 2011

Office of Renewables Portfolio Standard, Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy Department, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy