Potential estimation of renewable energy resource in Tohoku area and Tokyo metropolitan, Japan

Abstract

The present work is intended to evaluate renewable energy potential in Tohoku area and Tokyo metropolitan with common criteria based on spatial data and to reveal possibility of supplying renewable energy from Tohoku area to Tokyo metropolitan. This evaluation method consists of three processes with GIS. The first process is simulation of the meteorological parameters such as river discharge and direct solar radiation. The second process is extraction of potential areas with restrictions according to the renewable energy facilities such as meteorological conditions, geographical features and social environment. The third process is calculation of the amount of annual power generation by using simulated meteorological parameters. The application of the new method to Northern-Tohoku area shows renewable energy potential in Northern-Tohoku area is 101,904 GWh/year. The renewable energy potential in Northern-Tohoku area is bigger than electricity demand in civilian sector in Tokyo.