自然電力グループ

Shizen Energy Inc. (Shizen Energy) invested in Kurashi-no-Kotsu Inc.* an on-demand transportation service provider, through a third-party allotment of new shares on March 29, 2023.

About Kurashi-no-Kotsu Inc.*
Kurashi-no-Kotsu Inc. was established on September 30, 2022 by 12 companies, including local taxi companies, local businesses, and community-related companies. Collaborating with Community Mobility Inc., the company provides an on-demand transportation service through the AI sharing mobility service “mobi”(*1), offering unlimited rides at a fixed rate in the Nio-cho and Takuma-cho areas of Mitoyo City, Kagawa Prefecture.

Mitoyo City, like many other rural areas in Japan, is undergoing consolidation and closure of schools as the population declines, and school club activities are also being consolidated across schools. In this context, the challenge is that without a means of transportation by car, children’s mobility is further restricted and access to educational opportunities become limited. Kurashi-no-Kotsu focuses not only on issues related to transportation for the elderly after they forfeit their driver’s license, but also on transportation for young people, which lacked attention until now, and offers new transportation options in addition to existing transportation, such as privately owned vehicles and taxis.

Left: Brochure and smartphone app
Right: Information desk  at local supermarket

Transportation Vehicle (image)

Background to investment

Shizen Energy has been collaborating with local businesses and community-related companies that have invested in Kurashi-no-Kotsu in the past, with local initiatives such as “URASHIMA VILLAGE”, a local villa-type hotel, and ”SETOUCHI KURASHI no DAIGAKU”,a Community College, in the Mitoyo area. In recent years, as the population of Mitoyo City has been declining, the concept of “mutual assistance” has permeated as a way to create new community opportunities through cooperation among the private sector, including local companies, in fields such as education, welfare, and transportation, in areas that cannot be fully covered by the current government or conventional commercial enterprises alone.

For future regional transportation, while securing means of transportation for people who cannot drive, it will be necessary to make services more energy efficient through DX, replace vehicles with EVs,  utilize renewable energy sources to shift to environmentally friendly transportation, and build an operating system that optimizes schedules and energy management. It is necessary to simultaneously implement a comprehensive infrastructure transformation to build next-generation infrastructure that is decarbonized and DX-oriented, while addressing an aging and declining population.

Shizen Energy has invested in Kurashi-no-Kotsu in order to gain knowledge of the current state of local transportation and to explore the Mitoyo area as one of the demonstration sites where complex transformation can be realized. Shizen Energy will also examine the possibility of developing renewable energy sources and entering the mobility field in anticipation of future EV conversion.

*1 mobi –  on-demand transportation service provided by Community Mobility Inc.

【About Kurashi-no-Kotsu Inc.*】
*tentative English company name. “Kurashi-no-Kotsu” means “Transportation for Everyday Life” in Japanese

・Location: 35-3 Nioshin, Nio-cho, Mitoyo City, Kagawa Prefecture
・Established: Sep. 30, 2022
・Representative: Hayate Tajima
・Business: On-demand transportation services, analysis of transportation data
・URL：http://kurashinokoutsuu.jp/

【About Shizen Energy Inc.】

Founded in June, 2011. With the company purpose of “We take action for the blue planet,” the company’s business includes development, financing, and asset management of renewable energy power plants using solar power, wind power, small-scale hydroelectric power, and biomass. Since 2016, the company has also been focusing on its international operations, expanding its development and power generation projects in areas such as Southeast Asia and Brazil. In 2019, the company also entered the energy tech business, offering micro-grid and VPP construction, smart charging and discharging services for EVs, and other services through its self-developed EMS (energy management system). Shizen Energy Group has been involved in more than 1 GW of renewable energy generation internationally.

・Headquarters: Fukuoka Ohori Bldg. 1-1-6 Arato, Chuo Ward, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Pref.
・Representative Directors: Ken Isono, Kenji Kawado, Masaya Hasegawa
・URL: https://www.shizenenergy.net/en/

<For inquiries regarding this press release>
Shizen Energy Inc., Public Relations Department
E-mail: se-comm@shizenenergy.net