WSHPDR_2013_Final_Report-updated_version

infrastructure facilities such as intake weirs, check
dams, water-supply facilities, etc. and in relatively
small-scale rivers are gradually taking place.
Legislation on small hydropower
The Act on the Promotion of New Energy Usage 1997
was passed with the aim of accelerating the
promotion of new energy usage. Initially, hydropower
was not included but in April 2008, hydropower of 1
MW or less was incorporated, such as facilities that
are used non-exclusively for hydropower, such as
serving as subsidiary power generation combined with
irrigation, water use, erosion-control facilities, etc.
The Act on the Promotion of New Energy Usage as a
feed-in tariff (FIT) scheme started in July 2012. Under
the FIT scheme, if a renewable energy producer
requests an electric utility to sign a contract to
purchase electricity at a fixed price and for a longterm
period guaranteed by the Government, the
electric utility is obligated to accept this request. In
regard to hydropower, this system is applied to smalland
medium-scale. Tariff for hydropower is sorted in
three procurement categories according to scale:
between 1 MW and 30 MW (24 yen/kWh, tax
exclusive), between 200 kW and 1 MW (29 yen/kWh)
and less than 200 kW (34 yen/kWh). Power purchase
agreements (PPAs) are for 20 years.
The Japanese Government ministries and agencies are
promoting small-scale hydropower as a form of
renewable energy from such standpoints as CO 2
reduction, diversification of energy sources, reduction
of maintenance costs of facilities and revitalization of
local communities. Efforts toward increased
hydropower generation have been undertaken, such
as institutional reforms, consideration of a relaxation
of regulations, and subsidies on survey, design and
construction expenses.
Barriers to small hydropower development
In order to further support the use of small
hydropower, the following will be necessary. 6
Re-evaluation of the potential capacity of small-scale
hydropower generation and common understanding
of hydropower use:
Extensive discussions should be held on the possibility
of expanding the use of various untapped heads in
existing infrastructure facilities, such as dams, weirs,
irrigation channels, water-supply and sewerage
systems, existing hydropower-generation facilities,
and small rivers, without being bound by past
preconditions and constraints. In doing so, it is
necessary to re-evaluate Japan’s technically
developable hydropower capability. In addition, a
common understanding needs to be established
among the parties involved, regarding the possibility
of further using hydropower as a renewable energy
source and regarding the issues to be resolved from
technical, cost, environmental and institutional
perspectives.
Technological development of using various untapped
heads economically:
In actively utilizing various untapped heads as a new
means for hydropower generation, it is necessary that
they are in line with current facilities’ flood-control
and water use functions and with the surrounding
environment. At present, the efforts of concerned
parties and studies are being conducted on power
generation facilities that are suitable for the
installation site based on conventional technologies.
In the future, it will be necessary to systematically
promote the development of new hydropower
technologies that match the actual situation
depending on the type of untapped head, by clearly
defining the development goals of technological
issues.
Hydropower development led by local residents:
In order to expand the use of small hydropower, local
residents are advised by the Government to take the
initiative to promote small hydropower development
by taking advantage of the characteristics of each area.
Local residents are asked to think about measures to
promote comprehensive development of hydropower,
together with solar power and wind power, as
renewable energies. In promoting community-based
hydropower development in the future, local
governments need to consider how to use water
resources in various ways, not only for hydropower
generation but also for tourism and other purposes,
and, to this end, a system that enables flexible
hydropower needs to be developed. In addition, the
Government commented that steps should be taken
to simplify application procedures and speed up
processing for small hydropower generation with
regard to the River Act and the Natural Parks Act, as
well as to create support systems that enable the easy
use of nationwide hydrological and terrain data for
development purposes, and maintenance and
management support systems of the power plants
once the project has been completed.
Development of environmentally friendly technologies
for sustainable hydropower generation:
In order to realize greater sustainable hydropower
use, researchers need to analyze the extent of
environmental and social impacts. Based on their
findings, the national and local governments need to
establish rational countermeasures. When newly
building or expanding small hydropower facilities,, it is
necessary to establish detailed criteria (such as
minimum flow discharge) and methodologies
matching the actual river and facility conditions, in
order to balance the use of renewable energies and
river environment preservation. In terms of measures
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