Event

Twenty-six students from the Monash Business School in Melbourne visited JRE. Two JRE employees gave the students a lecture covering topics such as the renewable energy business environment, issues in promoting its use, and JRE’s business operations in the field. One of the employees, who happened to be an alumnus of Monash University, also talked about career-building. The students showed keen interest and asked many questions. Students actively participated in the Q&A session, where they brought up topics such as Australia’s electric power situation and issues in expanding renewables in the country. It was a learning opportunity for both the JRE employees and students. The students visited several companies on their tour of Tokyo and at the end gave a presentation on their thoughts gained through the tour. In this way, they learned about global business, and it seems they were also able to experience famous attractions in Tokyo such as Asakusa and the yakatabune cruising boats before returning home.

JRE intends to continue supporting the education of coming generations.

Eleven members of ERE Group participated in the Kehi Shrine Festival in Tsuruoka.

The Kehi Shrine Festival is the earliest spring festival in the Shonai area of Yamagata Prefecture to pray for a bountiful harvest. Hundreds of people in formal kimonos and festive attire form a procession. The highlight is the dynamic “jumping mikoshi,” where young men in white robes carry a 400 kg portable shrine, leaping and chanting as they move along.

At the request of local residents, 11 of our employees assisted in carrying the children’s portable shrine. They walked through the town of Sanze alongside local elementary school students and Tohoku University of Community Service and Science students, receiving offerings of sake and sweets from community members.

Participating employees received words of gratitude from local residents, making it a truly meaningful experience for all of them. As a member of the community, ERE will continue to walk alongside the local people.

After examining cut wood to learn about the importance of forests and sustainable resource utilization, 14 members that included 2024 new graduate hires and other ERE Group employees, planted eucalyptus seedlings in Sammu, Chiba Prefecture. This marks the third such event, following the one held in October 2023.

EG Forest provided a lecture on the importance of forests and sustainable resource utilization before the participants began planting eucalyptus seedlings. Although it was the first planting experience for most participants, they were able to work efficiently with EG Forest members and guest participants from the city of Isumi, planting a total of 1,600 trees in about two hours. Afterwards, participants enjoyed a social gathering with freshly cooked rice, locally sourced pork, and freshly harvested vegetables.

New hires who participated shared their thoughts, saying, “The soil at the planting site was harder than expected, making it more labor-intensive, but there was a sense of accomplishment in completing the task” and “It was a satisfying program that allowed us to experience tree planting and interact with other employees and local residents.”

As part of ERE Group’s efforts to promote the utilization of Japanese forests and contribute to a recycling-oriented society, the Group plans to continue this program in the future.

Reforestation projects by EG Forest (press release in Japanese only):https://www.eco-g.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/eg-news20210716a.pdf

The JRE Kamisu Biomass Power Plant was recently featured in an environmental education video created for elementary and junior high school students as part of Chiba City’s efforts to combat global warming. (Visit the Chiba City website here.)

The video, whose production was led by the Chiba University Environmental ISO Student Committee, is part of a series that follows Kuroko Takara—a VTuber who specializes in educational “field trip” content—on visits to companies active in the fight against global warming. In addition to explaining the process of using woody biomass to generate electricity, the video also looks at points like the benefits of procuring wood for the power plant exclusively from domestic sources.

To develop the content, Chiba University students started meeting with ERE employees at the end of last year and even visited power plants on multiple occasions for research purposes. Through that hard work, the effort succeeded in presenting important information in a concise, straightforward way and generating a wealth of valuable learning opportunities for not only the students in the target audience but also for the students behind the video and ERE, as well.

Going forward, ERE will continue to support the education of the next generation.

ERE co-sponsored and participated in the Yamaga Ebine Delicious Beef and Rice Kids Festival held in Yamagamachi, Kitsuki, where ERE operates the JRE Oita Beppuwan Wind Farm. This festival, held for the first time as a co-hosted event with the 2024 Ebine Marathon, was attended by eight ERE employees. With over 1,000 marathon participants and supporters, the festival was a great success, featuring numerous food stalls and events to cater to the marathon-goers. ERE team members worked hard on preparations the day before the event, engaging in physical tasks like making sandbags and with unaccustomed hands preparing ingredients for dishes like yakiniku rice bowls using Yamaga’s famous beef and rice, which inspired the festival’s name. At the venue, ERE team members set up a booth featuring poster board displays and a hands-on activity where visitors could make wind turbines from plastic bottles, which was enjoyed by many participants.

This year, 19 employees from ERE Group participated. On the day before the festival, they assisted with various preparations, including peeling moso bamboo shoots, cooking bamboo soup, crafting bamboo sake cups and sake bottles, and setting up tents at the venue.

One employee participated in the festival for the first time in eight years since her involvement during the development of the JRE Tsuruoka Hachimoriyama Wind Farm. She was thrilled to see the turbines of the wind farm in operation up close and were delighted to reunite with the local community, cooperating companies, and construction firms who had supported the project.

The day of the festival, our employees enjoyed spending time with the local community, realizing how our power plant project has also contributed to fostering interaction among the area’s residents.

Eight employees from the ERE Group participated in drainage ditch cleaning activities in the residential area near the JRE Himeji Solar Power Plant, which overlooks the World Heritage site Himeji Castle.

Despite a forecast of rain, the weather held up. And while the work was new for the participants, they spent very meaningful time communicating with members of the neighboring community association while removing mud and fallen leaves from the drains and cutting grass.

It was a valuable experience that renewed the participants’ appreciation for nature, which provides the environment needed for power generation, and for the people who coexist with it.

Sixteen ERE employees participated in the main Sakata Festival and its “eve festival” the night before in Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture.

The Sakata Festival has been ongoing since the Edo period, but it has been facing challenges such as a shortage of manpower due to declining membership in the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Sakata. This year, ERE was invited by JCI Sakata to participate, and the participants spent six months preparing for the event.

Before the festival, the participants helped set up displays at Shimohie Shrine, including 150 traditional kasafuku hanging ornaments designed by local high school students in the shape of Portuguese-style umbrellas and 500 pinwheels from the Sakata Port Wind Power Operators Association. In the evening, they joined local high school students and the Sakata Soureikai in performing Sakata Festival music on stage.

Group employees also participated twice, in the morning and afternoon, as pushers for the Hiyoshimaru float, which was jointly created by the city of Sakata and JCI Sakata. Despite the unfortunate rainy weather, they felt proud to be part of the team that energized the approximately 250,000 festival-goers.

ERE participated in the forum along with consortium members as the selected operator for an offshore project off the coast of Happo Town and Noshiro City.

The business seminar featured an address by the Vice Governor of Akita Prefecture, followed by explanations from the selected operator consortiums of an offshore project in Oga, Katagami, and off the coast of Akita, greetings and project explanations from our consortium’s representatives, product presentations by local companies, and a presentation of initiatives by Akita Prefecture.

From ERE, Managing Executive Officer, Kiyoshi Doi delivered a powerful statement of commitment as the consortium representative, while our project director presented an overview of the project, construction/maintenance, and the ripple effects on the prefecture, including community engagement measures.

The networking session afterwards was attended by about 170 people, where we could sense the high expectations for offshore wind power projects and the unwavering determination of those involved.

ERE hosted a Mölkky tournament at the Hikarigaoka Baseball Stadium indoor practice field in Sakata, with cooperation from local companies Sakata Beika Co., Ltd., Kato Mokko, and an onigiri shop in Sakata called Onimaru. We invited Yasutada Kawano, a former Mölkky* world champion, who taught local children the rules and throwing techniques of the game in the morning. For lunch, participants enjoyed onigiri from Onimaru. In the afternoon, we held a workshop where participants decorated their original Mölkky (throwing sticks) and skittles (wooden pins) made from Sakata cedar thinnings provided by Kato Mokko. A total of 60 people in 25 groups participated, with children from kindergarten to elementary school enjoying Mölkky and learning about environmental issues.

After the experience event, there was a Mölkky tournament hosted by Sakata Beika, in which ERE employees participated and won second place. It was a rewarding day for our employees, interacting with local community members through Mölkky.

*Mölkky is a sport developed in 1996, based on a traditional game called kyykkä from the Karelia region of Finland. Players throw the Mölkky and score points based on the number of skittles knocked down. The first to reach exactly 50 points wins.

ERE President Kazuhiro Takeuchi attended the international forum hosted by FLOWRA (Floating Offshore Wind Technology Research Association)

FLOWRA is a technology research association established in March this year, based on the European Joint Industry Program (JIP) model (a collaborative R&D approach led by energy companies) to build a cooperative system for floating offshore wind power. ERE joined in June this year.

Currently, 20 Japanese energy companies have joined, and future research plans are being discussed in working groups for each technical topic of focus.

On the day of the forum, executives from member companies, the FLOWRA chairman, officials from METI and MLIT, and ambassadors from various countries gathered for presentations. ERE is committed to actively participating in FLOWRA activities to play its part in supporting the wider adoption of floating offshore wind power generation.

Employees from our power plant participated in the 2024 Kamisu Beach Cleanup Activity (organized by the Kamisu Beach Cleanup Committee) held at Nikkawahama Beach in Kamisu, Ibaraki Prefecture, where the JRE Kamisu Biomass Power Plant is located.

This beach cleanup typically brings together over 1,500 participants, including those working at industrial complexes and general volunteers from within and outside the city.

With the previous day’s rain cleared, the event day was overcast with relatively comfortable weather. Despite the challenging sandy terrain, we were able to actively pick up trash.

Participating in this valuable event aimed at maintaining the beach’s beauty just before the swimming season heightened awareness about marine plastic waste. It was a very worthwhile experience for us!

In conjunction with the visit of the Spanish Minister of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, the Spain-Japan Business Summit was held at The Okura Tokyo, where ERE President Kazuhiro Takeuchi participated in a panel discussion on decarbonization. Among panelists representing leading companies from Japan and Spain, Takeuchi introduced ERE’s initiatives, including offshore wind projects off the coast of Happo Town and Noshiro City in Akita Prefecture, as well as the outlook for Japan’s renewable energy market. This drew considerable interest from the more than 200 attendees.

The Sakata Port Wind Power Operators Council, of which ERE is a member, made a donation to the City of Sakata.

On July 23rd, the member companies of the council—Kato Sogyo Co., Ltd., Cosmo Eco Power Co., Ltd., and ERE—visited Sakata’s Mayor Yaguchi for a donation presentation ceremony. ERE was represented by President Takeuchi and several development staff members. Mayor Yaguchi expressed her gratitude for the donation, saying, “I am thankful for this donation. We have high expectations that the offshore wind power projects and the development of the base port will revitalize local industries. We hope that many citizens feel positive about many renewable energy facilities being located here and that the city has become a better place. We would like to continue receiving advice from members of the council, and we appreciate your ongoing support in revitalizing the local economy.”

This donation will be used for the operations of the Minato Oasis Festival and other projects to revitalize Sakata Port, as well as for the mathematics education promotion project for developing talented students in science and technology fields.

The annual Tachiura Boat Race Competition, a summer tradition, is held in the waters near our Hirado Ikitsuki Office. We entered as JRE Hirado Ikitsuki Wind Farm, with a team of employees from ENEOS Renewable Energy Management Corporation, who are responsible for power plant operations. This year’s competition was the most exciting yet, with a record-breaking 31 teams and over 200 participants.

On the day of the competition, we set up a booth to introduce our business and offered a craft activity where visitors could make windmills using plastic bottles and blades made of candy. This was especially popular with children.

In the Tachiura Boat Race, using all of our might and inexperience at rowing, we were able to rock the boat, but we made little headway and unfortunately didn’t finish within the time limit. We’re determined to do better next time!

The JRE Hirado Ikitsuki Wind Farm, which started operations in April 2024, aims to be a power plant that can gather support from the local community. We also want to continue challenging ourselves in the boat race competition.

We held the first-ever tour of the JRE Hirado Ikitsuki Wind Farm, which began operations in April.

At the invitation of the Ikitsuki District Community Development Council, we organized a tour for 50 participants including children and adults. We showed a construction video at a local community hall, used slides to explain about wind turbines, and gave a quiz. The participants showed great interest, watching the video attentively and actively joining in the quiz.

When our chartered bus arrived at the power plant, you could hear people saying, “Wow, it’s huge!” and “Amazing!” as soon as people got off the bus.

We plan to continue organizing tours in the future to meet the requests of the local community.

On Wednesday, July 31st, ERE held an underwater drone experience for high school students at the 2023 Noshiro Next-Generation Energy School, organized by the city of Noshiro.

With the support of several of our employees, five students from Akita Prefectural Noshiro High School of Science and Technology tried their hand at operating the drones. The students were visibly excited and seemed to enjoy operating the drones. The competition held between two teams was particularly intense and lively. Local residents were able to get a sense of the potential of offshore wind power projects and their associated technologies through this experience, which was a significant achievement.

We plan to develop this initiative further and expand it to other regions. We’re excited to keep working on these activities with local communities.

On Thursday, August 1st, ERE participated in the Shirataki-jinja Shrine annual festival in Happō. This festival, which is said to have started in the early Showa era, is famous for its mikoshi-no-takiabi, in which the mikoshi (portable shrine) is carried into a waterfall. It is reportedly the only place in Japan where a mikoshi enters a waterfall. This tradition reportedly began when bearers, unable to withstand the intense heat, decided to cool off by going into the waterfall.

From seven in the morning, festival participants dressed in white carried the mikoshi through town, praying for a good harvest, safety at sea, and prosperity in business. Despite the early hour, townspeople waved as the mikoshi passed by, demonstrating how the whole town unites for this event.

With many participants from outside the prefecture and media attention, it was a valuable experience to be part of such a notable event. During the finale, as we carried the mikoshi into the sacred waterfall, the bearers overcame the chill of the water with their enthusiasm, and our employees felt exhilarated.

As a member of the community, our company will continue to walk alongside local residents.

On Saturday, August 3rd, we conducted a tour of the JRE Hirado Ikitsuki Wind Farm as part of the Hirado Eco Festival - Fieldwork event organized by the city of Hirado. We were fortunate to have good weather, and turbine No. 2 was conveniently facing our direction, making it a perfect day for the tour. Although the tour was brief due to other scheduled programs, with activities ranging from watching an introductory video about the power plant at the Ikitsuki Central Community Center and participating in a hilarious quiz conducted by power plant staff, we believe it was a fun and fulfilling experience for the children.

We will continue our efforts to be a valued renewable energy power plant, in harmony with the local community.

On Sunday, August 4th, we co-hosted a basketball clinic with the ENEOS Sunflowers, the women’s basketball team of ENEOS Holdings, at Shika Junior High School in the town of Shika in Ishikawa Prefecture.

We organized this event with the Shika School Education Division as part of the recovery efforts following the Noto Peninsula earthquake that occurred on January 1st this year. Despite the intense heat, members of elementary and junior high school basketball clubs from Shika and their parents participated. The clinic featured a number of fun practice drills, and the students seemed to enjoy interacting with the players while participating in the activities.

During the closing ceremony, Kokoro Kimura from Shika Junior High School gave a thank-you speech to the players, making it a very meaningful event.

This year, we held a Wind Day event at the JRE Oritsumedake South 1 Wind Farm with 18 families participating. The event was part of the Parent-Child GO Northern Prefecture Tour, a summer vacation program organized by a local newspaper, Iwate Nichinichi Shimbun, to learn about energy in a fun way. Participants toured the JRE Oritsumedake South 1 Wind Farm and made wind turbines from plastic bottles.

Making plastic bottle wind turbines that could successfully generate electricity was challenging even for adults. Although both children and parents struggled, they managed to complete them. We hope it was a memorable day for the children, seeing large wind turbines up close and making plastic bottle turbines with their families.

We were invited by Okyakuya, a Kochi Yosakoi team we sponsor, to participate in the Yosakoi Festival in Kochi. Several members from our group company ENEOS Renewable Energy Management attended.

Team Okyakuya was founded by someone who greatly supported us during the development of our JRE Kochi Kami Solar Power Plant. Every year, as part of our sponsorship, our company logo is displayed on the car that leads the dance, known as the jigatasha.

On the day of the festival, we visited various dance stages set up around the city to watch different teams perform. The choreography, costumes, music, and jigatasha designs varied greatly between teams. While respecting tradition, each team showcased its unique style, making it interesting to watch throughout the day.

Later, we learned that Okyakuya won a Jigatasha Encouragement Award. It was an experience that really made us feel the passion Kochi residents have for the Yosakoi Festival.