Current situation and potentials of the collaboration between municipalities mediated by renewable energy: Collaboration case between Miyama and Bungo Ono City

After the electricity deregulation by the Japanese government, more local municipalities invested and established the power producers and suppliers (PPSs), aiming at local electricity production for their own consumption by taking advantage of renewable energy. Besides, we found a tendency that some municipalities collaborate together for the purpose of the promotion of renewable energy and the local production for local consumption in energy. For example, Miyama and Bungo Ono Cities signed the agreement to exchange electricity made from renewable energy.Given the above circumstances, it is the objectives of this article to describe current situation of the collaboration between local municipalities for the purpose of promoting renewable energy, and to consider how much that can contribute to local revitalization and prevalence of renewable energy. For this purpose, this article carries out the case study of Miyama City in Fukuoka and Bungo Ono City in Oita.Furthermore, this paper then addresses the followings. First, it describes why such collaboration between local municipalities is necessary. Second, we understand the current situations and future challenges of the municipal collaboration through semi-structured interview toward Miyama City and Bungoe Ono City. Finally, this article concludes that the collaboration between local municipalities have more merits than demerits and can contribute to the promotion of renewable energy and local revitalization