Following are some highlights from my presentation - more in the forthcoming paper "Models of Energy Communities in Japan (Enekomi): Regulatory Solutions From the European Union (Rescoms and Citencoms)" that will be published in European Energy and Environmental Law Review (August 2021):
  • Energy communities are already part of the current Japanese energy sector. 
  • Miyama Smart Energy is the forerunner of this movement - not only sells power to the inhabitants of Miyama City but also promotes a home energy management system that monitors power consumption and considers investing in its own local grid.
  • The enerugīkomyuniti (or enekomi, as I propose to call this type of entities) powered by renewables with an important role played by photovoltaics (PV), reflect a growing wave of prosumer movements in Japan. 
  • This derives from the decrease in the cost of renewable installations, as well as the opportunities for multiple deployments in places previously unable to access renewable energy (such as farms – when “farming photovoltaics” or “agrivoltaic systems” are applied).
  • In the 1990s, the first Japanese solar power plant, owned and financed collectively by local citizens, was launched (1994). As of 2017, more than 200 organisations were set up in anonymous partnerships and other types of entities realising joint prosumer projects of renewable character.