The Institute of Energy Economics, Japan was established in June 1966 and certified as an incorporated foundation by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in September that year. The original aim of its establishment was to carry on research activities specialized in the area of energy from the viewpoint of the national economy as a whole in a bid to contribute to sound development of the Japanese energy-supplying and energy -consuming industries and to the improvement of people’s life in the country by objectively analyzing energy problems and providing basic data, information and reports necessary for the formulation of policies.
With the diversification of social needs, IEEJ has expanded its scope of research activities to include such topics as environmental problems and international cooperation closely related to energy.
So far, as a non-profit organization using funds from over 100 member-companies, IEEJ has provided data, information and policy recommendations related to energy and environment. It also reported on the geopolitical situation in the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and so on.
In August 1981 the oil Information Center was launched, in October 1984 EDMC was established (and merged into IEEJ in April 1999), in July 1996 the Asia Pacific Energy Research Center was established, in April 2005 the Middle East Research Center was merged to IEEJ and in April 2008 the Green Energy Certification Center was launched (later transferred to JQA in April 2018).
IEEJ shifted to a General Incorporated Foundation in April 2012 after the new law was enforced in the year of 2008.