Japan plans to tighten laws around large-scale solar – pv magazine International

Japan is set to impose stricter environmental oversight on future large-scale solar projects. The government may also discontinue financial support under its feed-in tariff and feed-in premium schemes for large, ground-mounted solar beginning April 2027.

December 24, 2025
Patrick Jowett

Image: Fumiaki Hayashi/Unsplash

The government of Japan is planning to implement a series of countermeasures governing large-scale solar farms.

Referred to as the Mega Solar Countermeasure Package, plans include introducing stricter environmental oversight by lowering the threshold for mandatory environmental impact assessments and expanding their scope. A threshold for this measure is yet to be made public.

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is also set to consider the establishment of a third-party organization that would be responsible for verifying the safety and compliance of solar plant constructions.

According to an update posted on the ministry’s website, the government may also discontinue financial support available under its feed-in tariff and feed-in premium schemes for large, ground-mounted solar, starting from the fiscal year beginning April 2027.

The countermeasure package has been developed to counteract concerns around the preservation of landscapes and the natural environment, government officials have said.

“In the future, we will continue to implement the Mega Solar Countermeasure Package quickly and reliably in cooperation with relevant ministries and agencies, and continue to introduce renewable energy,” the ministry’s update adds.

According to reports from Reuters, the government has indicated support for existing large-scale facilities and residential solar installations will continue, while investment in the development of perovskite solar cells will be strengthened.

Japan’s 26th solar auction concluded earlier this month, allocating 75.3 MW of solar capacity with a lowest price of JPY 4.97 ($0.032)/kWh.

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