In Namie, a few kilometers north of the devastated nuclear power plant, a glittering sea of ​​photovoltaic panels stretches across the Pacific Ocean from where the devastating tsunami of March 11, 2011 had swept.

The site is all the more symbolic as it was once intended to house Fukushima's third nuclear power plant, a project abandoned after 2011.

The 18-hectare solar park - the equivalent of 25 football fields - is used to produce hydrogen on site, a clean energy if it is generated from green electricity, and on which Japan relies heavily in the long term.

Inaugurated in 2020, this "Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field" (FH2R) will also be able to absorb excess electricity from the network during peaks in supply linked to fluctuations in renewable energies.

Solar power generation facilities in Katsurao, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, February 4, 2022 Philip FONG AFP/Archives

In this way it will serve to "balance" the electricity network and avoid any waste, explains to AFP Eiji Ohira, an official of the Organization for the Development of New Energy (NEDO), the Japanese public research organization exploiting this experimental site.

Since 2012, the department of Fukushima has aimed to produce enough electricity from renewable sources on its territory to cover the equivalent of 100% of its consumption by 2040.

"The strong desire to prevent such an accident (nuclear, editor's note) from happening again was the most important starting point" of this policy, reminds AFP Noriaki Saito, head of energy planning and coordination of the department.

It is also a way "to reclaim our land" and "to rebuild", he underlines.

Double-edged aid

Thanks to massive financial support from the Japanese government, the objective is currently on track: a rate of 43.4% of renewable energies was achieved in the 2020/21 fiscal year, compared to 23.7% in 2011/12, according to the department.

Solar farms have sprung up like mushrooms on its coastline, on land fallow due to the tsunami or radiation-related evacuations.

Solar power generation facilities in Fukushima, Japan, February 4, 2022 Philip FONG AFP/Archives

Fukushima, which already had hydroelectric facilities, has also become a host of biomass power plants and wind turbines in its mountains.

But there is still a long way to go, especially in people's minds, warns Mr. Saito.

An opinion shared by Motoaki Sagara, the boss of Apollo Group, a small local energy supplier which has considerably expanded its offer in renewable energies in recent years.

"We generate electricity with photovoltaic parks and we sell it to individuals. The price is just a little higher (than electricity from conventional energies, editor's note). But often our customers tell us that they prefer the cheapest electricity," Sagara told AFP.

Subsidies "help and motivate us" to develop green energies.

But they are "double-edged", he judges, because if this windfall stopped companies like his would find themselves in difficulty.

Short circuits

To raise awareness among its population, Fukushima encourages the creation of short energy circuits, where electricity is produced and consumed on site.

This is the case in Katsurao, a small village nestled in a wooded valley about twenty kilometers from the devastated nuclear power plant.

The town was evacuated between 2011 and 2016 due to radiation and has only 450 inhabitants today, less than a third of its previous population.

On a former rice field that was used to store radioactive deposits during decontamination work, there is now a solar park, the electricity from which is consumed directly in the village.

“It is the first autonomous community in the country with an electric micro-grid,” boasts Seiichi Suzuki, vice-president of Katsuden, the local mini-electricity company.

On their return, "the inhabitants had expressed their strong desire to live with natural energy sources", and public aid followed.

"When we use electricity produced in the community, it's easier to see how it is generated. It reassures me (...) and it's good for the environment" comments Hideaki Ishii, grocer-restaurant owner in Katsurao.

However, the solar park only covers 40% of the village's electricity needs on average per year, says Mr. Suzuki.

A biomass power plant is planned.

But some residents are against it, fearing it will release radioactive emissions if it inadvertently uses contaminated organic materials, says Suzuki.

In Fukushima, even when it comes to renewable energies, the demons of the nuclear accident are never far away.

© 2022 AFP