"Japan approved on Monday incentives for renewable energy that could unleash billions of dollars in clean-energy investment and help the world's third-biggest economy shift away from a reliance on nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster."

"Industry Minister Yukio Edano approved the introduction of feed-in tariffs (FIT), which means higher rates will be paid for renewable energy. The move could expand revenue from renewable generation and related equipment to more than $30 billion by 2016, brokerage CLSA estimates.

The subsidies from July 1 are one of the few certainties in Japan's energy landscape, where the government has gone back to the drawing board to write a power policy after the Fukushima radiation crisis, the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986."

Yuko Inoue and Leonora Walet report for Reuters June 19, 2012. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Japan Poised to Become Second-Biggest Market for Solar Power" (Bloomberg) [3]