Sendai (a city in northern Japan’s Miyagi prefecture) and Tohoku Electric Power announced on April 24, 2018 that they will work together to optimize the control systems for solar power generation systems and energy storage systems through Virtual Power Plant (VPP) technologies. The enhanced control systems are expected to support their regional disaster prevention capacity and reduce the systems’ environmental impact.

After the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, Sendai placed solar power generation systems and energy storage systems in each of the city’s designated shelter facilities, including in all of the city’s elementary and junior high schools. The systems are designed to reduce CO2 emissions and to secure the power supply when a disaster occurs. Tohoku Electric Power has initiated a VPP Demonstration Project at 25 of Sendai’s designated shelter facilities. The utility company will remotely monitor and optimize the solar power generation systems and energy storage systems, and will run tests using collected resources (power) through the VPP to make adjustments to balance the electricity supply and demand. In addition, the utility will examine solutions to improve the longevity of energy storage. The demonstration project will run for a period of three years, from April 27, 2018 to March 31, 2021.