The Japan News by The Yomiuri Shimbun
ROLE OF ENERGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
What is the role of the Fukushima Renewable Energy Research Institute, which was established in Koriyama in 2014? This institute is working as a new research base of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in accordance with the national reconstruction policy. The Yomiuri Shimbun spoke with Masaru Nakaiwa, who served as the institute's director until the end of March. The following are his comments:
The Fukushima institute has a goal to become the world’s most advanced research hub in six fields, including renewable energy and hydrogen energy. The institute is particularly eager on hydrogen. To be more specific, we focus on research into the storage, transportation and use of hydrogen produced by electricity from sustainable energy sources.
The institute also provides technical support to small and midsize companies affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. This support is aimed at making the most of the sophisticated skills of companies in industries related to sustainable energy, to foster the creation of new businesses. Through our support, a nuclear power-related company has already switched to wind power.
In the first five years up until fiscal 2018, the institute employed 454 people, many of them students and engineers from universities and companies in the prefecture. Developing human resources is an important mission of the institute.