Abstract
More than ten major development projects have been announced on the waterfront of the Port of Tokyo. Totally, these projects will include 565 hectares of land to be developed into new CBDs (Central Business Districts) and high-rise apartments. The total floor area is expected to reach 1, 480 hectares. As for energy, 500MW of electricity and 730 Gcal/h of heat is expected to be consumed in this area totally at the peak.
In order to lead these projects successfully, the installment of efficient infrastructure will be of utmost importance. Especially, design of a reliable energy distribution system will be essential. Co-generation should be a good alternative, because with Tokyo's reliable city-gas pipelines, it will assure the stable supply of electricity even under the breakdown of the conven-tional power grid.
A choice between a centralized and decentralized system will also be important. Latter should work better in this area because of its scattered energy demand.
It is without doubt that Tokyo's role as a world center will grow even more in the future. As long as the function of the city can be maintained only by the stable supply of energy, con-struction of a more reliable energy distribution system will be essential to the future growth of this area. For this purpose, cooperation between public and private sectors such as power and gas companies is expected as well as the development of innovative energy conversion systems such as fuel and photovoltaic cells.
