Fukushima experienced the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl when a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit three years ago. Now, the region is trying to turn the “lost landscape” into massive renewable energy fields. The prefecture has declared “zero dependency on nuclear energy” and created a goal to meet 100 percent of its electricity needs with renewable energy, such as solar, by 2040. The prefectures also believes that investing in renewable energy will spur economic development and create jobs to help its recovery and rebuilding efforts.
Prefecture-Led Initiatives
In April, a 1.2-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) system was completed at the Fukushima airport that is very visible not only to local people but also outside visitors. The 400 million yen (US $3.9 million) project was fully funded locally, and meant to signify the prefecture’s strong commitment to renewable energy.
According to a city official, the prefecture invested 45 million yen (US $443,000) to create the Fukushima Power Company, a special purpose entity, to develop the Fukushima Airport Solar Power Project. Local city governments and businesses also made equity investments in the company, while local banks provided 200 million yen in debt financing. Furthermore, citizens in Fukushima raised an additional 100 million yen for the project.
The solar project installed at the airport parking areas consists of 4 ground-mount structures: a 500-kW system, created by 2,000 SunPower modules and one 500-kW TMEIC inverter donated by Toshiba, a 501-kW system with SunEdison modules, a 22.5-kW tracking system using Fuji Premium modules, and a 169-kW system consisting of 30 different solar panels provided by various domestic and foreign manufacturers and six different mounting system structures.
In the same month, the prefecture opened the “Fukushima Renewable Energy Research and Development Center” with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), a publicly funded research institution, for advancement of solar technologies in the prefecture. The Research Center monitors and analyzes the efficiency and effectiveness of different modules and system structures at the airport. The center will also research other renewable energy technologies such as wind and geothermal, and transfer knowledge and advances to create jobs in the prefecture.
Near Future Plans for Fukushima
For the fiscal year 2015, ending March 31, 2016, the prefecture has a renewable energy goal of 805 MW (cumulative installed capacity). This goal is equivalent to 24 percent of the retail electricity demand of the prefecture. Out of 805 MW, solar PV technology will represent 447 MW. By 2030, the cumulative installed capacity of solar will be 2 GW.
This goal appears to be easily attainable. As of January 2014, Fukushima already had nearly 1.6 GW of FIT-approved PV capacity.
While the federal government described nuclear power as an “important baseload power source” in the energy plan released in April, Fukushima is making important strides toward zero nuclear power.
