Japan will need nuclear power along with renewable power and thermal power with carbon capture technology in 2050, when the government has pledged to become carbon neutral, the head of the nation’s utilities group said on Friday.

“Scientifically, we may have a breakthrough in storage battery technology that may enable renewable power to meet the entire electricity demand by 2050,” Kazuhiro Ikebe, chairman of Japan’s federation of electric utilities told a news conference.

“But realistically, we will need to stretch all of the three power sources – renewable with storage battery, thermal with carbon capture storage or utilisation and nuclear power – as much as possible to meet larger power demand in 2050,” he said.