In the third and final installment in a series of articles on electric power in Japan, NERA Managing Director Dr. Glenn R. George and Senior Consultant Hans-Martin Ihle explore various pathways to success when navigating the new Japanese electric power market.

One of the greatest regulatory changes faced in Japan has been the regime surrounding its electric power sector. Competition is being introduced at both wholesale and retail levels through various measures, such as functional unbundling of generation from transmission, distribution, and retail elements in the electric power value chain. These market changes will create a cascade of effects throughout the electric power sector.

The regulatory changes and the post-Fukushima retirement of nuclear plants will create market entry opportunities in the wholesale power generation sector, particularly for fossil and renewable generation. In the retail sector, a wide variety of new business models and non-traditional service providers will begin to compete with incumbent power companies. NERA’s article provides strategies for both retail and wholesale market entrants and incumbents, and recommends gaining experience in more mature competitive power markets around the world.

This article is provided with the permission of the publisher.