A Supermarket Magnate Charts a Path for Japan’s Untapped Geothermal Power
Shoji Numata built a grocery empire using a franchise model. He’s pursuing a similar approach for developing renewable energy from the same source that feeds the country’s hot springs.
The first commercial geothermal plant being built by Machiokoshi Energy, in the Oguni geothermal field on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu.
Source: Machiokoshi Energy
Japan has vast potential for generating electricity with geothermal power plants, but investors have been discouraged by opposition from powerful hot springs owners, bureaucratic hurdles and the difficulties of building in rugged mountain terrain. Supermarket magnate Shoji Numata says he has an answer: franchising.
Numata is the founder of Kobe Bussan Co., a grocery business valued at almost $7 billion with about 1,000 stores operated by franchisees. A similar model can jump-start development of geothermal energy, he says. His company Machiokoshi Energy can help prospective plant developers reduce the permitting and building time from about 15 years to five, he says, by bringing onside hot springs owners with economic incentives, avoiding red tape with small-scale plants and using technology the company has developed to navigate the topographical challenges.