Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO, Headquarters: Osaka Prefecture) announced on November 29, 2019, that a total of 10 companies including KEPCO will conduct a demonstration test on the frequency control of a power system using storage batteries. The test will run from December 2, 2019 to January 31, 2020. It will integrate the battery control system “K-LIBRA” with 8 different storage batteries produced separately by each battery manufacturer. “K-LIBRA” was jointly developed by KEPCO and NEC, a major Tokyo-based IT and electronics company.[1]

The demonstration test will examine the battery control system’s ability to remotely control all of the tested batteries with the fast charge-discharge capability. It also validates the performance of the system’s response capabilities for short cycle load fluctuations by analyzing the response time and the control accuracy of batteries in response to the signal emitted from “K-LIBRA.” Furthermore, the demonstration test evaluates the effectiveness of the system’s additional functions to maximize the frequency control capabilities. Based on the test results, KEPCO aims to commercialize the battery control system in fiscal year (FY) 2020.

In early 2019, KEPCO, ELIIY Power (a Tokyo-based company that develops high capacity batteries[2]), and Sansha Electric Manufacturing Co. (an Osaka-based company machinery manufacturer[3]) completed a preliminary demonstration test to collectively and remotely control the charge-discharge performance for a total of 10,000 storage batteries in response to short cycle frequency fluctuations in the power system.[4]

The project is funded by the Agency for Natural Resources under Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), through its FY2018 Demonstration Project on Virtual Power Plant (VPP) Utilizing Demand Side Energy Resources.[5]

[1] https://jpn.nec.com/profile/corp/outline.html

[2] https://www.eliiypower.co.jp/company/index.html

[3]http://www.sansha.co.jp/user_data/company/company.php?transactionid=5642f6fe202e98ff6d6489c915b7eef78fe1a2e8

[4] https://www.kepco.co.jp/souhaiden/pr/2019/0522_1j.html

[5] https://www.kepco.co.jp/souhaiden/pr/2019/1129_1j.html