Shimizu entering to Small Hydroelectric Power Business

Shimizu Corporation (Kazuyuki Inoue,President) is entering the small hydroelectric power generation business to pursue the use of renewable energy in power generation as the key to sustainability. The first step will be an investment of around 1.6 billion yen as early as May to begin construction of a 960 kW power plant in Toyama Prefecture, with the goal of commencing operation in December 2020.

The number of companies engaged in small hydroelectric power generation has grown since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. The reason for the increase in development is because such power plants can provide a stable supply of electricity, regardless of the season or time of day, with a generation capacity of 1,000 kW or less. This make commercialization possible with a small investment. These small power plants also minimize the impact on the surrounding environment and ecosystem during development.

Shimizu began exploring commercialization in Toyama Prefecture, which has an abundance of water resources, in December 2016. This resulted in the establishment of Water Country Electrical Power Co., Ltd., a joint venture with Japan Small Hydropower Co., Ltd. and Japan Electronics Service Co., Ltd., which have extensive track records in small hydroelectric power generation, in December 2017. Thus far, we have been preparing to acquire development permission for a small hydroelectric power plant via the joint venture.

After commencing operation of the first power plant, Shimizu is planning to develop the FIT (feed-in tariff) power generation business over 20 years and work on development of more than 10 small hydroelectric power plants in five or six prefectures, including other locations in Toyama Prefecture. We are aiming to build total generation capacity of 10,000 kW by 2030 to generate a total of 2 billion yen in net sales.