Press Release

Press Release

Forgery of FIT approval document for Wada Hydroelectric Power Station

August 02, 2024
Chubu Electric Power Co.,Inc.

Chubu Electric Power hereby announces that it has come to light that an employee of our company forged a land lease agreement, which is a part of the application documents required for FIT approval, at Wada Hydroelectric Power Station ("the incident").

The incident was discovered in July 2024 while proceeding with procedures for the implementation of repair work at Wada Hydroelectric Power Station. After questioning the absence of this document in the land lease agreement and conducting an internal investigation, it was discovered that in September 2022, an employee of the company who was in charge of preparing the application documents required for FIT approval had forged the land lease agreement.

We have reported the incident to the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy and the Kanto Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, and have suspended operation of Wada Hydroelectric Power Station following its discovery.

We take the incident very seriously as inappropriate handling in violation of laws and regulations, and apologize for the inconvenience and concern it has caused to our customers and all other concerned parties.

Chubu Electric Power will continue to investigate the cause of the incident and take thorough measures to prevent recurrence.

1 Background

  • In October 2021, when applying for FIT approval, the company reconfirmed that a part of the hydroelectric power station conduit passes through a national forest. It then confirmed that the rules of the application require a written lease agreement for the land in question with Toshin District Forest Office, which is the administrator of the national forests. Since the station started operation in 1918 and has been in operation up to the present and it became necessary to document the title to the land in accordance with the application for FIT approval, discussions were held to conclude a lease agreement with the mutual agreement of both parties.
  • In December 2021, the company received a document from Toshin District Forest Office certifying that it is in the process of concluding a lease agreement for the land in question, and filed an application for FIT approval.
  • In March 2022, FIT approval was obtained from the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry.
  • In September 2022, an employee of the company forged a lease agreement for the said land, which had not been submitted at the time of application for FIT approval (Note), and submitted it to the Kanto Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry.
    (Note) Documents that have not been submitted at the time of application for FIT approval must be submitted within 180 days after approval.
  • In February 2023, the renovation of the hydroelectric power plant was completed and FIT electricity sales began.
  • In July 2024, while proceeding with procedures to repair the hydroelectric power plant conduit, it was confirmed that this document of the lease agreement for the land in question was not kept at the company, and upon inquiring with the said company's employee, the incident was discovered.

2 Future actions

We will investigate whether similar improper handling is being conducted at all power plants that have been FIT-approved or are in the process of applying for approval.
We will continue to investigate the cause of the incident and take thorough measures to prevent recurrence.

3 Power station overview

Name of station

Wada Hydroelectric Power Station

Location

Wada, Nagawa-machi, Chiisagata-gun, Nagano

River system/river name

Shinano River System, Yoda River

Power output

1,900 kW

Power generation system

Run-of-the-river type (conduit type)

Maximum water consumption

1.67m3/s

Effective head

127.41m

Start of operation

October 1918

Start of FIT power sales

February 10, 2023

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