Japan Invests To Fire Up Geothermal Power

_ The Pacific Basin’s tectonically active Ring of Fire is a hotspot for volcanic and seismic activity that gifts countries sitting atop this horseshoe-shaped belt of volcanic heat with abundant renewable energy. Yet despite this promise, high upfront development costs and competition from subsidized alternatives have limited the global geothermal industry to only a sliver of the renewables market, accounting for less than 1% of total primary energy supply of which only 0.3% is electricity generation, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) 2024 report, The Future of Geothermal Energy. The application of next-generation technologies such as enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and a growing sense of urgency to quicken the march to net zero are driving change. Rystad Energy’s latest geothermal economics model suggests capital expenditures in geothermal energy are accelerating and likely to rise by around 20% per year through 2030 (Figs. 1 and 2). Japan Flexes Muscles With Strategic Investments Japan, straddling the Ring of Fire and ranking third globally behind the US and Indonesia in geothermal energy resources, is pursuing new investments. These initiatives could potentially deliver 20–23 GW to the island nation’s future grid, according to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Infrastructure (METI). Japan’s challenge is that it ranks 10th in installed geothermal capacity, producing only around 600 MW, even as Tokyo’s Strategic Energy Plan aims to more than double that to 1.5 GW by 2030. After commissioning multiple geothermal projects in the 1990s, Japan hit pause for 20 years, hobbled by government regulations spurred by public protests to shield national parks and the hot springs industry from development. Hence, the current race to catch up. The hiatus ended in 2019 with the commissioning of Japan’s first large-scale geothermal project in 2 decades, the 46-MW Wasabizawa Geothermal Power Plant in Yuzawa City, Akita Prefecture. This facility features advanced double-flash technology to boost efficiency by up to 25%, according to Tokyo’s state loan guarantor, Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC). More geothermal plants followed, all based on conventional hydrothermal technologies with slightly different steam-cycle configurations. Japan added three new facilities in 2024, the largest of which was the 14.9-MW Appi Geothermal Power Plant in the Hachimantai region of Iwate Prefecture, commissioned in March 2024 and supported by JOGMEC loan guarantees. Mitsubishi Materials Corp., Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co. Inc., and Electric Power Development Co. Ltd. operate both the Wasabizawa and Appi geothermal projects through joint venture companies. EGS in the US: From Fracking to Microwave Drilling Japan’s estimated 100 geothermal power plants may seem like a lot for an island nation half the size of Texas, but most are small to medium scale units of 500- to 600-MW capacity tapping into naturally permeable hydrothermal reservoirs near the earth’s surface. They are predominantly near mountain hot springs, where drilling depths range from 50 to 500 m.