In 2021, the Japanese government released the 6th Basic Energy Plan outlining the country’s long-term energy strategy and providing clear indications of what Japan’s energy-related future looks like to help guide business decisions and reveal opportunities in the market. The Japanese government started promoting renewable energy to reduce the country's reliance on fossil fuels in 2012 and aims to increase the share of renewables in the power generation mix from just under 15% in FY2019 to 37% in FY2030.

Japan is planning to buy substantial volumes of hydrogen and ammonia from overseas to mix with fossil fuels in thermal power plants and to help decarbonize heavy industries such as steel and chemical production. Mobility is another market for which the Japanese government has high hopes for hydrogen. Although Japan currently does not insist that all hydrogen imports should be low carbon hydrogen, local production projects are all targeting low carbon options such as electrolysis using renewable energy. The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) is expecting that most of the hydrogen supply will be imported, and major industrial players are already positioning themselves with investments in relevant technology and supply chain projects. 

According to Japan's carbon neutrality strategy low carbon technologies would be employed as pillars of the transition, including carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS). This technology allows to keep burning fossil fuels in hard-to-decarbonize sectors by offsetting or capturing/utilizing emissions from power plants and industrial processes, or by extracting CO2 directly from the atmosphere. Major Japanese industrial corporations are already researching and experimenting with the technology, however it is not ready for industrial use yet. This opens partnership opportunities for foreign players.