PROJECT
PROJECT
Joint Implementation of the Ministry of the Environment’s City-to-City Collaboration Project in the State of Airai, Republic of Palau
－Initiatives based on the Comprehensive Partnership Agreement between Urasoe City and OEPC－
Urasoe City (Mayor: Mr. Tetsuji Matsumoto) and The Okinawa Electric Power Company, Incorporated (President: Hiroyuki Motonaga, hereinafter referred to as “OEPC”) signed a comprehensive partnership agreement in April 2021 regarding energy, environment, and other initiatives, and are working together to create a sustainable city. In May 2022, the first PV-TPO service in the prefecture was installed at Minatogawa Junior High School in Urasoe City.
As a new initiative based on this agreement, we are pleased to announce that we will be participating in the Ministry of the Environment’s project, “City-to-City Collaboration for Support Sustainable Renewable Energy between Urasoe City and the state of Airai. The purpose of this project is to expand the renewable energy know-how developed in Okinawa Prefecture to overseas island areas.
The project is a collaboration between Urasoe City, Seed Okinawa LLC (CEO: Kiyoto Shimabukuro) of the Okinawa Electric Power Group (hereinafter referred to as “OEPC Group”), Nextems Co., Ltd (President: Naoto Higa), and Japan NUS Co., Ltd. (President: Kazuhiko Chikamoto), and will be carried out under the Ministry of Environment’s Intercity Partnership. This is the first time that a Ministry of the Environment intercity collaboration project has been implemented by a municipality and a company in Okinawa prefecture.
Through this project, Urasoe City will share its experience gained through various measures based on the “Basic Environmental Plan” and the “Action Plan for Global Warming Countermeasures”. Also, the OECD Group’s expertise in renewable energy, we will conduct surveys on suitable sites for tiltable wind power generation, and studies on free third-party owned solar panel, a widespread model for storage battery installation services (PV-TPO), and energy service model for commercial facilities, etc. Based on the results of these studies, we will propose measures to expand the introduction of renewable energy in the state of Irai and contribute to the realization of a sustainable environmentally conscious city.
Reference:
The Republic of Palau is a country where most of its electricity from diesel power generation. To achieve the government’s target of increasing the ratio of renewable energy to 45% by 2025, it is necessary to accelerate the diffusion of renewable energy. The state of Airai is the second most populous city in the country with an international airport, and its population is growing as a bedroom community. Also, the region is highly interested in environmentally friendly urban development, including renewable energy and energy-saving technologies.
