Current Status and Challenges of Community Energy Business Entities Through Wide-Area Cooperation*

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship among stakeholders and regional energy governance in municipal energy projects from the perspective of wide-area cooperation and wide-urban areas, the position of municipal energy projects in the SDGs, and in particular, whether they can contribute to the realization of the SDGs through wide-urban area cooperation. Community Energy Business Entities (CEBEs), which have been expanding in Japan recently, are expected to lower electricity prices and promote local production and consumption of energy. Through these community-based electricity projects, local governments and local companies are working together to promote initiatives that will contribute to the regional economy and become a new player in the low-carbon society (reduction of CO₂ emissions). As a case study, this paper discusses the current status and challenges from the above perspective, focusing on the case of CEBE developed through wide-area cooperation in the Nishi-Kyushu Sasebo Wide Urban Area, which was started mainly by Sasebo City and surrounding municipalities in Northern Nagasaki, Japan.

Key words: regional cooperation, community energy business entities, Nishi-Kyushu Sasebo Wide Urban Area, governance, stakeholder

JEL codes: R, R1