In Japan, small hydroelectric power generation refers to plants with an installed capacity below 1000 kW. By law, it can be constructed in rivers, exiting dams, or irrigation canals, basically anywhere, without restriction. However, in practice, there are many hurdles. In this article, I will tell you about a few of those hurdles so that you can understand how stuff works in Japan regarding small hydropower plants.
Hurdle 1: Permission for water usage rights
A major hurdle in introducing small hydropower generation is to comply with the legal procedures at various stages. The River Act of Japan stipulates that when using river water, one must obtain water usage permission (water rights) from the river administrator. The river administrator could be located in the city office if it is a small river, it is the prefecture office if it is medium sized river; and in the central government office if the river is a large river. Though the officials are friendly outward, they are not so while checking your application. All details are checked deliberately until everything is resolved. It may take a year or more to complete this consultation. But before applying for the river administration office, you need to resolve the conflict of interest in water usage by yourself.
Hurdle 2: Managing conflict of interests
Conflicts on water usage occur between farmers, agricultural organizations, and fishery organizations. They are also called stakeholders. This is the most time consuming part. One needs to manage all the parties and get their written permission before even applying to the river administrator. This applies even for a few kw projects, irrespective of their size. For comparison, solar or wind power generation have almost no conflicts of interest, and thus the development time is much shorter.
Hurdle 3: Landownership
While making the plan for hydropower, some of the land will fall into the river administrative zone, some on roads, and some on private properties. Also, there is a likelihood that one will need a protected forest. Before applying for the river consultation, these things should also be taken care of. Sometimes, the landowner is dead, and there is no owner to deal with. In rare cases, even the city-owned land could be a big hurdle.
Hurdle 4: Construction cost
Although hydropower is reliable and efficient, the cost of construction has risen recently. The payback period has increased from a few years to 15-20 years. Although the government guarantees the purchase of energy, the license period is only 20 years. Meaning, for most of the projects, it is impossible to make a profit. This is the most serious issue and should be taken care of by the government. But the government seems to be ignoring this problem. Private companies won’t be able to develop projects based on the current arrangement.
Hurdle 5: Maintenance
Small hydropower generation requires time and effort to maintain and manage. Cleaning is required on a daily basis at intake. However, due to the small size of the project, hiring a person to do so is infeasible or sometimes impossible, as the project sites are generally in remote areas. Weather conditions such as heavy snow and typhoons could choke the plant for a number of days.
Conclusion
Although small-scale hydropower generation poses many challenges when installing equipment, it is a potentially beneficial energy source that is environmentally friendly and energy self-sufficient. In order to promote the spread of small-scale hydropower generation in Japan, it will be necessary to ease regulations such as the acquisition of water rights, understanding and cooperation will be needed to advance initiatives on a community-wide basis, and the government should consider increasing the license period.
