Japan to provide €650 million in subsidies to develop next-generation geothermal power solutions

• 4 days ago (2026-04-17)
• David Flin

Asia 1019 Gas engine plant 86

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Japan’s Ministry of the Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) has announced that projects to develop next-generation geothermal power technology will receive a total of €650 million in subsidies by fiscal 2030.

METI said it will start to accept applications for the subsidies from June, with the plan to draw in major power companies and other operators. The subsidies will come from the Green Innovation Fund, which supports decarbonisation technologies. This will be used to cover costs such as site surveys for suitable locations, design expenses, and the drilling of test wells.

Eligible technologies include closed-loop geothermal systems, which circulate water through pipes in high-temperature geological formations and use the generated steam to drive turbines, and supercritical geothermal systems, which generate electricity using heat sources that are close to magma located deep underground.

The Japanese government has set a target of increasing the share of geothermal power in domestic electricity generation to about 1-2 per cent by fiscal 2040. It currently stands at around 0.3 per cent.