Impact of Introduction of Renewable Energy on Local Community: Small Hydro Power Plants in Chugoku Region

Abstract

The concept of small hydroelectric power plants has started to gain attention in Japan after the destructive Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011 (also called 3.11). Small hydroelectric power plants offer a variety of benefits to the local community, namely, (1) the energy produced is called Chisan-Chisho, i.e., produced locally and consumed locally, (2) no greenhouse gas is produced, (3) unlike some of the renewable sources of energy, such as solar and wind energy, small hydroelectric power plants produce energy constantly, (4) there is substantial potential for utilizing small hydroelectric power plants in Japan, (5) these small plants can be operated for an extended period of time. This paper aims to analyze the effect of small hydro power plants on the local economy, with small hydropower plants in the Chugoku area being used as an example. The Chugoku area, part of western Japan, comprises the Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, and Yamaguchi prefectures. Soon after the end of the Second World War (WWII), more than 100 such small hydroelectric power plants were constructed in the Chugoku area to supplement the electricity supply. Today, approximately seventy years after the end of WWII, 50 of these plants are still in operation in the area. These small hydroelectric power plants have been a continuous source of benefits to the local communities in the region. This paper analyzed the effects of these small hydroelectric power plants on the region.