Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.
Dr. Shuichi Umezawa, Chief Researcher, TEPCO Research Institute
I am Umezawa, appointed as the 103rd division director of the Power and Energy Systems Division, following former division director Prof. Tomio Okawa. I am the third division head of the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Incorporated., TEPCO, following Dr. Ito, the 6th division head who was instrumental in establishing this division, and Prof. Mori, the 17th division head. I will ensure the smooth operation of the division so as not to be inferior to our predecessors’ division director, with the cooperation of Prof. Takao Nakagaki, deputy division director, Prof. Yoshinori Hamamoto, division organizer, and other members of the committees and divisions.
Now, our division policy for this fiscal year is to (1) Decarbonization, (2) Restarting nuclear power generation, and (3) Cooperation among industry, government, and academia, in order to build “energy for a brighter tomorrow” (Figure 1). Decarbonization of (1) is urgently needed to contribute to the prevention of global warming. We had a large number of renewable energy paper submissions requiring eight sessions at this year’s Power and Energy Technology Symposium, which we sponsored. As an example of the introduction of non-fossil fuels into thermal power generation, ammonia co-firing at JERA Corporation’s Hekinan Thermal Power Station has been started on a trial basis and was awarded the 2024 Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers Award upon the recommendation of this division. We would like to plan and carry out further projects this year.
About (2), the nuclear power stations that were in operation before the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 were 61 in Japan, but now there are only 14, including both Onagawa Nuclear Power Station Unit 2 of Tohoku Electric Power Company and Shimane Nuclear Power Station Unit 2 of Chugoku Electric Power Co., which restarted operation in December 2024. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident that followed the Earthquake shook trust in the safety of nuclear power plants, and to today, the trust has not recovered to its previous level. Recovering of trust in nuclear power generation is essential to restarting nuclear power plants. The division has made efforts both to disseminate information on further improve nuclear safety, new technologies and decommissioning techniques, and to foster young researchers and engineers who will lead the nuclear power industry in the future by holding the International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, PATRAM and FDR. We intend to continue these efforts in the future. Nuclear power is a large-scale, stable power source and plays an extremely important role in the stable supply of electricity. In addition, the operation of a single nuclear power plant can reduce the operation of thermal power plants that generate the same amount of electricity. It leads to save hundreds of billions of yen annually in fuel costs. This is an effective countermeasure to the current rising prices of electricity, gasoline, and other forms of energy in Japan, which are putting pressure on our daily lives.
The cooperation between industry, government, and academia in (3) has been the philosophy of the division since its establishment, as described in the opening address by Prof. Saburo Toda of Tohoku University, who served as the first director of the division, and is a clear characteristic of the division compared to other divisions. This is to say, based on the front-line energy field and future needs, companies, universities, and research institutes cooperate and collaborate to promote research and technological development, and then apply the results to the actual field. This applies to thermal power, nuclear power, renewable energy, heat pumps, or any other field. I believe that (1), (2), and (3) are all based on the fundamental technologies that have been cultivated to today. On the other hand, the challenges that the division is currently facing both the declining number of registered members and the increasing age structure of registered members (including myself). To address this issue, we proactively hold technical tours and workshops by cooperating with industry, government, and academia.
Finally, I would like to talk about my personal involvement with the division. When I was a graduate student, I studied thermophysical properties, and after joining TEPCO, I put this knowledge to my research on efficiency analysis of power plants. Then I submitted the results of my research to the International Conference on Power Engineering 1999, as the first submission to a conference organized and co-sponsored by this division. I also became a member of the International Planning Committee in 2003, and since then I have continued to contribute papers and committee activities. During that time, I have been honored to receive the Contribution Award, the Outstanding Lecture Award, and the JSME Award nomination from the division. More than that, I am grateful for the many excellent people with whom I have interacted through my activities in the division. For this reason, I have deep personal feelings and would like to make a small contribution to the development of this division!