Let's Help the Earth Together ⑬: Supplying Public Facilities with Green Power!?

Last time, we introduced a solar power generation project in Miyazu City, which was struggling with the increase in abandoned farmland due to depopulation, through a partnership between three companies: Kyocera, Omron Field Engineering, and Kanashita Construction.

✅ Partnership in a Core City

This time, we look at a case in Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture.

Unlike Miyazu City, Okazaki City is a core city with a population that continues to grow, ranking 49th out of 792 cities.

Okazaki Sakura Electric Power Co., Ltd., in which Okazaki City holds a 51% stake, operates the 'Chuo Clean Center' waste treatment facility with investments from four private companies in addition to the city.

It was established with the goal of supplying electricity generated by biomass power generation facilities and the like to public facilities within the city, as well as utilizing business profits to strive for the widespread adoption of renewable energy and contribute to the construction of a sustainable society that the city aims for.

Because it was established in March 2020, before Prime Minister Suga's 2050 carbon neutrality declaration, you won't find phrases like 'making city electricity 100% renewable' or 'making it 100% clean power,' butit does express the goal of realizing local production for local consumption of energy and decarbonization, and I believe it serves as a model for solving social issues.

Also, since it is said that many incineration facilities in Japan are just facilities that burn trash without utilizing electricity or heat, this is also a case that makes us think about how waste incineration should be.

✅ The Weakness of Japan's Power 'Grid'

Now, the mechanism of electricity supply is difficult to understand, isn't it?

👆 I have reprinted a diagram here from information provided by the Energy Business Federation of Japan (Enelog).

In Europe, a mesh-like power transmission network is spread out to allow for the mutual exchange of electricity between countries.

On the other hand, Japan had a power transmission form called a 'skewer' type, which was a self-contained regional power grid where the territories of the 10 power companies were clearly defined.

Following the FIT system (Feed-in Tariff system for renewable energy) created after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, the number of renewable energy power generation businesses increased, and discussions have been held on reviewing the mechanisms for 'transmission and distribution' as well.

Let's confirm the meanings of the terms 'power generation, transmission, distribution, and electricity retail' here.

The left side of the diagram above👆 shows power plants.

Hydroelectric, nuclear, and thermal power plants were joined by solar, wind, and biomass power plants following the introduction of FIT.

Electricity generated at these plants is stepped up to ultra-high voltages of 275,000 to 500,000 volts and sent out to transmission lines.

Sending electricity from power plants to substations is called transmission. Sending electricity from substations to homes is called distribution.

Before electricity reaches homes, it is stepped down through five stages to 6,600 volts, then transformed to 100 or 200 volts by transformers on utility poles before being sent to each home via service lines.

The entities generating electricity at power plants are “power generators,”
those that send that electricity to substations and on to homes are “transmission and distribution operators,”
and those that contract with homes to sell electricity are “power retailers.”
Of these three business types, transmission/distribution and power retail were “monopolized by the 10 power companies” until the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident.

✅ Electricity Liberalization in Japan

Since 1995, several institutional reforms have been carried out. The power generation sector has been opened to competition in principle, and the retail sector was fully liberalized in April 2016.

If the transmission and distribution sector, which delivers electricity to businesses and homes, does not treat existing power companies and new entrants equally, sound competition will not occur and reform will not progress.

On the other hand, there is an aspect where it is more efficient for a single company to centrally manage “supply-demand management” to balance electricity demand and supply across the entire transmission and distribution network, as well as construction and maintenance work for utility poles and power lines, from the perspective of economies of scale.

It is also possible to prevent duplicate investment by centrally managing the transmission and distribution network that is spread across every corner of the region.

Against this backdrop, rather than encouraging new entry into the transmission and distribution sector through liberalization like in the generation and retail sectors, reforms have been promoted to increase neutrality so that various businesses can use the transmission and distribution network fairly, while maintaining the form where a single operator provides services with regional exclusivity as before.

And, the legal separation of transmission and distribution was implemented in April 2020.

Reforms are underway to improve situations where solar-generated power is not transmitted while existing thermal power is prioritized, making it possible to protect the environment rather than protecting vested interests.

The discussion on the electricity supply system developed from the story of Okazaki Sakura Electric.

Next time, let's look at how many businesses exist.

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