100% Renewable Energy at Yokohama City Hall

Summary

The City of Yokohama aims to have all energy consumed within city-owned facilities powered by renewable energy by 2050. As a first step towards this goal, 100% of the electric power used at the new Yokohama City Hall building in FY2020 will come from renewable sources.

What is it?

In May 2020, Yokohama City published the Yokohama City Strategy on the Use of Renewable Energy, which details the vision to achieve a “Zero Carbon Yokohama” by 2050. The plan highlights that the city is expected to reduce energy consumption by 50%, convert all electrical consumption to renewable energy and decarbonise through practical application and spread of new technologies. 

As part of this goal, the city has committed to ensuring all energy consumption within City Hall facilities will be powered by 100% renewable energy by 2050. This also includes government offices and ward offices to be sourced from only renewable energy. 

Following the end of the government’s Feed-in Tariff (FIT) scheme, the new Yokohama City Hall building in FY2020 will receive 100% of its electric power from renewable energy produced by incineration plants in Yokohama and the energy from solar power generation facilities found in homes in the city (post-FIT). This move is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5,800t-CO2 per year, which accounts for 80% of emissions in the entire new Yokohama City Hall building. 

How does it work? 

Renewable energy generated by incineration plants in Yokohama is supplied to the new building using a self-consignment system. Further, other energy options employing a post FIT model for energy generation are used to supply the new building with energy from electric power retailers.

Next steps

The city is working toward the complete shift to renewable energy in the ward offices frequented by residents and businesses alike by FY2025. The city is also looking to further expand the use of renewable energy, such as shifting to renewable energy in facilities used by residents.