Anchor point: Overview
Japan’s largest source of low-carbon electricity is solar. In 2025, its share reached 10% of generation for the first time, nearly tripling in a decade. Japan remains the world’s fourth largest solar generator.
In contrast to solar, wind remained at around 1% of generation in 2025, lagging behind the rest of the G7 where it averaged 10%. However, wind generation increased by 1.3 TWh (+11%) in 2025 which, although small in absolute terms, is the second largest ever annual wind generation increase in Japan.
The progressive restart of nuclear reactors that were shuttered after the 2011 Fukushima disaster pushed nuclear’s share to 9% of generation in 2025, up from 8% in 2024, but well below its pre-Fukushima level of 25%.
Due to the growth of solar and the recovery of nuclear, the share of clean generation in Japan has doubled in the last decade to 33%, but remains below the 38% level posted in 2000. This means that Japan still relies heavily on fossil fuels, which accounted for two-thirds (67%) of generation in 2025. However, fossil generation fell marginally in 2025 (-0.7%), as growth in clean generation more than met the increase in electricity demand.
Japan’s per capita emissions in the power sector (4 tCO2e) are more than twice the global average (1.8 tCO2e) and double the Asia region average (2.1 tCO2e). This is largely due to its per-capita electricity consumption (8.4 MWh) being more than double the global (3.9 MWh) and Asian (3.8 MWh) average.
As of March 2026, Japan was targeting 38% renewable electricity by 2030. While the country’s renewables growth faces headwinds, wind power, particularly offshore wind, remains largely untapped.
Anchor point: Data
Anchor point: Insights
Ember examines Japan’s power sector transition in a global and regional context. As the only Asian member of the G7, Japan plays an important role in clean power progress and coal phase-out pathways among advanced economies. Japan’s leadership in accelerating clean power can also support the wider region, as Asia works to meet rapidly growing electricity demand with clean energy.
Japan has made progress in expanding solar power. But while the recent plan to expand renewables by 2040 is positive, progress is now being buffeted by geopolitical headwinds, and Japan risks being left behind as other regional powers move faster to a clean energy future.
Ember is an energy think tank that aims to accelerate the clean energy transition with data and policy. Ember is the trading name of Ember Energy Research CIC, a Community Interest Company registered in England & Wales #06714443. 'Ember' is a trademark held at the United Kingdom and European Union Intellectual Property Offices. All content is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC-BY-4.0). Website powered by 100% renewable electricity.
