JAPAN’S aggressive new plan to champion clean energy is shaking up the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market that it helped pioneer 60 years ago.

The country, the world’s top LNG importer, called for more renewables such as wind and solar to replace natural gas in a revised plan released last week. The shift aims for LNG-fired power generation to fall by roughly half this decade, creating upheaval for Japanese utilities as well as suppliers from Qatar to Australia to the United States.

The stricter guidelines will see Japan imports drop by a third by the end of the decade, according to traders and analysts. It will force domestic utilities to abandon long-term LNG deals, which have been the backbone of the nation’s imports, while increasing dependence on the more turbulent spot market.

“The move will further dampen Japanese LNG buyers’ appetite to sign long-term deals that extend beyond 2030, which could leave them more exposed to short-term price dynamics if demand ends up higher than targeted,” said Saul Kavonic, an energy analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG.

The policy was a surprise to suppliers around the world. Natural gas — once widely seen as the bridge to a green future — has been falling out of favor with some governments as they boost efforts to slow climate change and the cost of renewables drops drastically. Until recently, Japan had been touting the super-chilled fuel as a cleaner alternative to coal.

It isn’t clear if Japan will reach its new goals. To help replace the 50 percent drop in LNG, the country will need to restart nearly all of its nuclear reactors — a tall order considering the strong local opposition. The uncertainty will force Japan to dive into the spot market or sign short-term contracts, which combined currently only make up 30 percent of total imports.

(SD-Agencies)