Significance and challenges of revitalizing abandoned small hydropower facilities,

As an inherited local story

Abstract

Small-scale hydropower in rural area is a highly local-based energy source. In Japan, it was introduced in the Meiji era and lit up people's lives. But after several decades, many facilities were abandoned. 2011's accident at TEPCO's Fukushima Nuclear Power Station and the FIT triggered projects to rediscover these facilities and revitalize them in various regions.This study focuses on small hydropower revitalization projects that can be viewed in the context of local history, and clarifies their significance and challenges by conducting field surveys of three cases and interviewing the project owners and key local people.