Energy / Climate Change

February 5, 2011

 

Fund Starts Soliciting Investments from Citizens for Small Hydropower Station

Keywords: NGO / Citizen Non-manufacturing industry Renewable Energy 

JFS/Fund Starts Soliciting Investments from Citizens for Small Hydropower Station
Copyright Ohisama Energy Fund Co.


Ohisama Energy Fund Co., a Japanese energy firm, introducing a citizen-based investment scheme to expand the use of clean energy, started to solicit investment by citizens for the Tateyama Alps Small Hydropower Generation Project on September 8, 2010. It is the first instance in which Japanese citizens have invested in a small hydropower project.

A small hydropower station is defined as having electric output capacity of 10,000 kilowatts or less and which is friendly to the river environment and its surroundings. Since the hydropower generates green power which is both clean and locally-generated with no carbon dioxide emissions, it is drawing people's attention as a renewable energy which has not yet been developed.

The Tateyama Alps Small Hydropower Generation Project offers two minimum investment unit amounts: 500,000 yen (US$6,000) and 3,000,000 yen (US$36,100). With the investments from citizens, it will install a small hydropower generation system in the Kohayatsuki River in Toyama Prefecture. The project will be carried out as a local business and mainly run by a local firm, Alps Power. The fund, selected as a model case by the Ministry of the Environment, aims to raise about 780 million yen (about US$9.4 million) with an expected investment yield of 3 to 7 percent per year.

Since its foundation in 2004, Ohisama Energy Fund Co. has launched the Minamishinshu Ohisama Fund, the Stop Global Warming Ohisama Fund, and the Ohisama Fund 2009. They have raised a total of about 700 million yen (about US$8,434,000) from 1,274 individuals and have installed solar panels at about 160 facilities and introduced clean energy or energy-saving equipment to about 40 facilities. The funds have been well managed and have paid distributions from 1.1 to 3.0 percent per year since 2007. The firm plans to continue to promote and support the local energy businesses nationwide.

Citizen-Based Sustainable Energy Fund Launched to Stop Global Warming (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/026957.html
Citizen-funded Renewable Energy Projects Gain Momentum in Japan
http://www.japanfs.org/en/mailmagazine/newsletter/pages/028569.html

Posted: 2011/02/05 06:00:15 AM

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