JAPAN DISASTER: Govt to invest Y300-400bn on solar power

28 March 2011 09:00  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Japan plans to invest yen (Y) 300-400bn ($3.7-4.9bn) in the short term to ensure that a million households in the quake-ravaged Kanto and Tohoku regions would get access to a million kilowatts of solar energy, business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on Monday.

In a supplementary budget that would be rolled out next month, the government plans to spend a trillion yen on solar power installation, it reported.

As part of mid-term measures, the government would also focus on businesses and industries.

Japan, the world’s third-biggest energy user and economy, has been struggling with severe power shortages after a deadly earthquake and tsunami struck the country’s northeast coast, crippling a few of its nuclear power plants.

The country is now scrambling for traditional fuels and liquefied natural gas to plug its power shortages, even as it battles radiation leakage at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Meanwhile, M Setek’s 7,000 tonne/year polysilicon plant in Soma Fukushima remains shut following the earthquake, market sources had said.

Other polysilicon plants were not affected. Tokuyama, for instance, is running its 9,000 tonne/year polysilicon plant at Yamaguchi in Chugoku at full rates.

Additional reporting by Felicia Loo

($1 = 81.43)

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By: Leslie Tan

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