[Japan] Kansai Electric Power Company’s Oi Nuclear Power Plant Unit 4 Resumes Power Generation Operations

On May 11, 2018, Kansai Electric Power Company’s Oi Nuclear Power Plant Unit 4, located in Fukui prefecture, resumed its power generation operations. Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority determined that Unit 4 met its current safety standards and gave permission to restart the unit. Unit 4 will gradually increase its power output until it is fully operational in early June this year. It is the third nuclear power reactor with a generation capacity of at least one-million-kW to resume operation in Japan, following Oi Nuclear Power Plant Unit 3 and Kyushu Electric Power's Genkai Nuclear Power Plant Unit 3.

[Japan] Tohoku Electric Power and Sendai City Announced That They Will Work Together to Utilize Virtual Power Plant Technologies

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.

[Japan] TEPCO Energy Partner and Panair Jointly Established PinT for Nationwide Electricity and Gas Sales

TEPCO Energy Partner and Panair, a Tokyo-based retail electricity provider, announced on April 24, 2018 that they had jointly established PinT, a new company that will conduct nationwide sales of electricity and gas with advanced energy technology, as part of the two firms’ commitment to Utility 3.0 services.

Starting May 1, 2018, PinT will begin its Rent Program for real estate management companies. The service enables real estate management companies to switch the power supply contracts of rooms to new tenants, and to conduct electricity bill payments for multiple buildings at the same time. Starting on June 1, 2018, PinT will initiate its Electricity Program for customers using low voltage electricity. The program provides customers with a discounted rate plan. The discount is determined based on the total amount charged for the month. Customers with multiple locations can pay with a single bill. PinT aims to obtain 1.5 million electricity sales contracts by the end of FY 2020. The service will be available across Japan, with the exception of Okinawa prefecture. PinT also plans to start gas sales services in the Kanto region in FY 2018.

[Japan] Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) released the outline for Japan’s Strategic Energy Plan

METI’s Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy released the outline for the 5th Strategic Energy Plan on April 27, 2018. The outline reviews Japan’s progress towards its energy outlook by 2030, which was set in the Long-Term Energy Supply and Demand Outlook[1] published in 2015. The outline also considers Japan’s longer-term vision for energy supply and demand by 2050. The Strategic Energy Plan is the national energy policy that sets the vision and strategies to meet Japan’s long-term energy needs, based on the Energy Policy Act of 2002.

The outline acknowledges the progress made to date since Japan’s current Strategic Energy Plan was enacted in 2014 and pledges to further boost the measures currently in place. Japan will continue to rely on nuclear energy as an important zero-emission baseload energy source, however, the country will reduce its dependency on nuclear energy by promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy, and efficient thermal power generation. According to the outline, Japan expects that 44% of its generation mix will be zero-emission sources by 2030, which it will achieve by re-starting nuclear power plants and increasing renewable energy. Japan will advance its energy technologies, such as IoT, AI, and big data, and will integrate multiple business operators and systems, as part of a plan to enhance energy conservation by 2030. The outline sets several long-term goals to achieve by 2050, such as expanding renewable energy, reducing reliance on nuclear energy, combining advanced technologies to develop high efficiency distributed energy systems, and replacing low-efficiency coal-fired power plants with more high-efficiency coal fired power plants, as part of the process to transition Japan into a decarbonized society.[2]

[1] http://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2015/pdf/0716_01a.pdf

[2] http://www.enecho.meti.go.jp/committee/council/basic_policy_subcommittee/026/pdf/026_009.pdf