Legal Alert | Japan is Primed for Increased Foreign Direct Investment
Patent Grace Period Considerations in Australia, Japan, South East Asia and the U.S.
Greater Speed and Efficiency: Steps IP Offices Around the World Are Taking to Streamline the Patent Process
Nota Bene Episode 109: Asia Q1 Check In: China’s Emergence as the Number One World Economy and New Hegemonic Role in Asia with Paul Kim
Nota Bene Episode 69: Asia Check In: The Coronavirus’s Impact on Business, the Trilateral Summit, and Japan’s Criminal Justice System with Paul Kim
Dr. Frederick Ch’en discusses generic drugs and the changing pharmaceutical landscape in Asia
Spencer Klein Talks M&A with Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine
Many regulatory amendments that could impact renewable energy generation projects are scheduled to take effect in FY2024 (starting in April 2024). In April 2024, the amendments to the Act on Special Measures Concerning...more
New Support Scheme for Non-FIT/FIP Renewables, Battery Storage and Hydrogen Power Generation: Long-Term Decarbonization Auction to Start – Registration to Begin for the First Auction...more
GX Decarbonization Electricity Act Amending Renewable Energy Law and Regulations/Local Taxation on Renewables – Pressing for Coexistence with Local Community - Two important laws on energy policy were passed by the Diet in...more
The year 2022 marked the entry of Japan’s renewable energy market into a new phase. The FIT scheme reached a 10-year milestone, a new FIP scheme was launched, and a regulatory framework favorable for corporate PPAs was...more
Amendments to the Act on Special Measures Concerning Procurement of Electricity from Renewable Energy Sources by Electricity Utilities (Act No. 108 of 2011; the Act will also be renamed the “Act on Special Measures Concerning...more
The enactment of the "Mimasaka City Commercial Power Generation Panel Tax Ordinance" (the "Panel Tax Ordinance") in Mimasaka City, Okayama Prefecture has the potential to significantly impact not only those solar power...more
Corporations have dramatically increased their purchases of renewable energy recently. This worldwide trend has shifted the traditional power purchase market away from reliance upon utilities and presents a tremendous growth...more
Mountain Valley Says Natural Gas Pipeline Timing Depends on Litigation, U.S. Approvals - “'As the litigation process progresses and as we receive additional information from FERC regarding potentially releasing the...more
I. The Details of the Nullification System and the Amendments to the Operational Practices (Stricter Policy on Detached-Site Projects) - 1. Current Status of the Nullification System - As we reported in our Japan Renewable...more
On April 1, the first day of the new fiscal year in Japan, many amendments to laws and regulations become effective and administrative interpretations and standards were revised; renewable energy laws and regulations are no...more
China Resumes LNG Imports from the U.S. - "Chinese buyers have resumed imports of liquefied natural gas from U.S. exporters, as Beijing started granting waivers to a 25% import tariff." Why this is important: In the...more
As discussed in our Renewable Alert Letter 39 dated February 5, 2019, installation and modification work for solar power facilities over a certain scale will now be subject to environmental impact assessment pursuant to the...more
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal Would Reshape the Economy in 10 Years. That Could Shock the Energy Sector. "The concern is that Ocasio-Cortez's plan to achieve climate goals in just 10 years will not only tee up...more
On January 15, 2019 the Review Committee on Basic Policy Regarding Solar Facilities and the Environmental Impact Assessment (the "Review Committee") issued a draft report (the "Report") in which a policy (the "Policy") was...more
On December 5, 2018, METI announced its "New Measures for Non Operational PV Projects under the FIT Scheme (Outline of Revisions)" to revise proposals it presented in October 2018 regarding new rules to substantially cut...more
Energy - Proposed Revision to Japanese Renewable Energy Act Would Have Major Industry Impact - On October 22, 2018, the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy ("Agency") published an "Overview on Draft Ministerial...more
On November 1, 2018, the Ministry of the Environment ("MOE") announced that, at the "4th Review Session on Basic Policy Regarding Solar Facilities and the Environmental Impact Assessment," it plans to make certain large-scale...more
Renewable Alert Letter 33 Topics: - Enforcement of New Regulations on Overloading - Approval of amendments to material matters concerning consent to interconnection: Does FIT price change if the planned commercial...more
On July 6, 2017, METI and the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy released proposals for revision of laws and ordinances related to long-speculated restrictions on overloading (kasekisai). ...more
On April 1, 2017, substantial portions of the Amendments ("Amendments") to The Act on Special Measures Concerning the Procurement of Renewable Energy by Operators of Electric Utilities (the "Act") will become effective. These...more
On December 13, 2016, the Procurement Price Calculation Committee announced proposed procurement prices and other rates for FY2017 and beyond. Proposed procurement prices are shown for solar power of 10kW or more and...more
Energy and Climate Debate - In his final major effort prior to retiring last week, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) reached a bipartisan agreement, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, with other House and Senate...more
Energy and Climate Debate - With just two or three weeks before the August recess – two for the House, three for the Senate – Congress has a full schedule. The Senate will devote much of this week to the Highway bill,...more
During the past several years, Europe has installed about 2,000 offshore turbines (6,500 MW of offshore wind generation capacity), with capacity doubling since 2010. Offshore wind provides almost 1% of total power in Western...more
I. Introduction of FIT in July 2012 - On July 1, 2012, the Act on Special Measures concerning Procurement of Renewable Energy Sourced Electricity by Electric Utilities (Act No. 108 of 2011) (the “RE Act”) came into...more