An article was published in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on November 17, 2018, entitled "Starting an experiment on mini hydroelectric power generation, utilizing it for ELIS and Tsuyama City small EVs."
The outline is as follows.
"A model project has started to utilize the power generated by mini hydroelectric power generation by ELIS (Okayama City), a renewable energy business, Tsuyama City in the northern part of Okayama Prefecture, and JA Tsuyama (Tsuyama City) for small electric vehicles (EVs). On the 16th, the inauguration ceremony of the power generation facility, which had been under construction in the campground in the Kamo-cho district in the northern part of the city, was held.
The micro hydroelectric power generation facility newly established by ELIS utilizes the discharged water of the mini hydroelectric power generation facility owned by JA Tsuyama. It is equipped with a water turbine with high power generation efficiency, which was jointly developed with Nagasaki University Faculty of Engineering and West Japan Fluid Technology Research Institute (Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture), which is engaged in research on fluid technology.
Tsuyama City has introduced 26 small Toyota Auto Body EVs "COMS", and full-scale demonstration experiments are expected to begin in the spring of 2019 at the earliest. It is also expected to be used as an emergency power source in the event of a disaster.
The three parties had an agreement in February 2016. Jun Kuwahara, president of ELIS, said, "In the mountainous areas, there are more blank areas for gas stations, and we would like to establish it as an alternative model." "