An Organizational Form for the Development of Renewable Energy

Abstract

Many renewable energy (RE) cooperatives undertake local RE projects such as solar photovoltaic generation and wind-power generation, particularly in Europe. In contrast, in Japan, municipalities have recently become actively involved in setting up a type of company that will undertake such projects. This type of company will be called “a municipal RE company” in this chapter. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the effectiveness of this particular organizational form. A literature review, website surveys and an interview are conducted. The findings are as follows: first, the literature review on RE cooperatives reveals that one of the crucial factors for successful RE cooperatives is community involvement in the projects. Second, community involvement may be facilitated and achieved by public employees through public service motivation. Third, website surveys and an interview with a key figure at a municipal RE company confirm this view. It is suggested that a municipal RE company works, to some extent, in the same way as an RE cooperative and thus may be effective in undertaking local RE projects. Taking into account that the success of an RE cooperative will depend on historical, cultural, and legal conditions, a municipal RE company may be a potential alternative for a community that does not satisfy those conditions.