Hankyu Corporation has announced the start of “carbon neutral operation” for all Hankyu Railway lines (approximately 143.6 km) in August 2024, in which all electricity used for train operations and station facilities will be replaced by electricity derived from renewable energy sources through the use of the Renewable Energy ECO Plan*2, thereby reducing CO2 emissions to practically zero. The amount of CO2 emissions that can be reduced by this plan is estimated to be about 1.5 billion yen per year. The amount of CO2 emissions that can be reduced by this initiative is approximately 143,000 tons per year, which is equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions of 56,000 average households.

In addition to the Renewable Energy ECO Plan, this initiative will utilize the Corporate PPA mechanism to generate and supply approximately 9.5 million kWh of electricity per year (approximately 3% of the total electricity used for “carbon neutral operation of all lines”) during FY2025 from a newly established dedicated solar power generation facility. This is equivalent to the amount of electricity used at Osaka Umeda Station for one year, resulting in a reduction of approximately 4,000 tons of CO2 emissions. The introduction of new solar power generation equipment as part of this initiative will contribute to the creation of environmental value and the realization of a decarbonized society.
This is the first time in Japan that a railroad company, which operates “carbon-neutral operation on all lines,” will use electricity derived from renewable energy sources through the Corporate PPA mechanism for part of its electricity for railroad operations.

By using electricity derived from renewable energy sources through the Corporate PPA and electricity generated by the solar power generation facilities installed at Settsu-shi and Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi stations, and by utilizing the Renewable Energy ECO Plan provided by Kansai Electric Power Company, “carbon neutral operation of all lines” with virtually zero CO2 emissions will be achieved. emissions will be virtually zero.

Corporate PPA is a long-term, fixed-price power supply agreement between an electricity customer and a renewable energy power source generator located off-site (off-site) from the place of demand and supplied via a retail power provider. PPA stands for “Power Purchase Agreement.