Aichi Prefecture to Officially Require Eco-Friendliness of Power Suppliers for Bidding Participation

With the aim of reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from electricity generation, the government of Aichi Prefecture in Central Japan will officially adopt new requirements for electric companies seeking to participate in bids for contracts to supply electricity to the prefecture's facilities, according to an announcement on June 2, 2008. This tender system, which considers the environmental practices of bidding candidates, has been applied to bids for four facilities since fiscal 2007, and the latest requirements will cover all 37 facilities that need tenders for electricity purchases in the prefecture.

The prefectural government has qualified several companies to participate in competitive bidding for supplying electricity to prefecture-owned facilities consuming large amounts of power. The government has also established an "action plan for environmental protection" aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions related to the prefectural administration work, in order to take the initiative in preventing global warming. According to the government, the greenhouse gases attributed to its administration work mainly consist of CO2 emitted from electricity use.

In the experimental bidding system, companies' CO2 emission coefficients are used as a criterion for evaluating their environmental performance, while in the latest bidding system, three additional criteria--usage of unused energy sources, introduction of new energy sources, and amount of electricity certified under the green power certification system that is planned to transfer to the government--will be applied to judge their performance from multiple perspectives. In fiscal 2008, the prefectural government also launched another model project that purchases green power certificates from owners of newly installed residential photovoltaic facilities.

- Aichi Prefecture official website
http://www.pref.aichi.jp/global/en/index.html
- Aichi Prefecture New Tender Requires Local Power Supplier to Cut 416 Tons of CO2 Emissions per Year (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/1972-e
- Aichi Prefecture to Utilize Green Power Certificates to Promote Residential Photovoltaic Generation (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/2156-e

Posted: 2008/11/17 02:43:28 PM