According to Japan's 6th Strategic Energy Plan, battery storage will be increased as a distributed source of electricity closer to end users and within microgrids. This new policy calls for an increase in installed solar capacity from 79 gigawatts (GW) in 2022 to 108 GW by 2030. Contact online >>
According to Japan''s 6th Strategic Energy Plan, battery storage will be increased as a distributed source of electricity closer to end users and within microgrids. This new policy calls for an increase in installed solar capacity from 79 gigawatts (GW) in 2022 to 108 GW by 2030.
Microgrids play a crucial role in the transition towards a low carbon future. By incorporating renewable energy sources, energy storage systems, and advanced control systems, microgrids help to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and promote the use of clean and sustainable energy sources. This not only helps to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions
Political and grassroots public support for a resilient, non-nuclear and fossil fuel-free future is gaining traction and spurring development of new microgrids in Japan. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe''s governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is advancing efforts to invest greater sums to develop smart villages, towns and cities with
A small town in Chiba Prefecture has created a microgrid—a decentralized electric power system—utilizing locally produced natural gas and solar energy. This innovation exemplifies how regional energy diversification can enhance the resilience of local communities throughout Japan.
This chapter aims to present to the reader an overview of the current status of the Japanese clean energy technology, in perspective with the current Japanese Energy Policy, putting emphasis on MGs in the country and its interrelation with, and its role within the whole energy sector in Japan.
The project was intended to demonstrate a microgrid''s potential to improve power-supply reliability. It seems safe to say that its performance in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake provided ample proof.
The Sendai microgrid is a small distributed energy system with a total output of only 1 megawatt, but its setup yields certain advantages that make up for its diminutive size. For example, the microgrid''s power sources are close to its customers; this arrangement decreases energy losses during transmission and allows for the distribution of heat as well. And although the microgrid is connected to the larger "macrogrid," its independent energy sources make it less vulnerable to problems in the larger system.
The resulting reliability makes microgrids attractive to customers such as hospitals—which need a guaranteed, uninterrupted flow of power—while allowing utilities to avoid costly across-the-board improvements.
"Today, people have no options," says Keiichi Hirose, the head of the Sendai microgrid project. "The idea is to provide some options for electricity." In the Sendai system, customers pay different rates depending on the level of reliability they need.
The Sendai project was proposed and carried out by NTT, Japan''s largest telecom company, with initial funding from a government R&D agency. But even after the government''s four-year funding commitment came to an end in 2008, NTT decided to keep the microgrid alive and operational. Hirose, a senior research engineer with NTT Facilities, says the company is experimenting with distributed energy because it is looking for new ways to power its massive data centers.
The power center that forms the heart of the microgrid is noisy and industrial but oddly homey. The tops of the natural gas turbines'' cooling towers are covered with green nets to keep out cherry blossom petals from a row of trees that flower spectacularly each spring. The control room, packed with computers and ranks of batteries for energy storage, is housed in an undistinguished metal building. Still, workers trade shoes for slippers when they go inside.
Sendai''s macrogrid was brought down by a combination of generation and transmission problems on 11 March, explains Alexis Kwasinski, an expert on disaster forensics at the University of Texas at Austin''s department of electrical and computer engineering. The earthquake triggered automated shutdowns at nearby nuclear power plants; the seismic forces also wrecked a substation and four transmission towers. The tsunami followed hard on its heels, wiping out a coal-fired generating facility and another substation.
"The microgrid is a local concept, and that''s what makes it important," says Kwasinski, who has visited the Sendai site twice since the earthquake. "Even if you lose all the infrastructure outside your immediate area, the microgrid can keep operating."
But for every silver lining, there is a cloud. And for microgrids, the downside is their initial costs. The Sendai project was blessed with government funding to finance the purchase of power sources and their installation. But start-up costs will pose a problem for commercial entities that try to follow NTT''s example without government aid. "Maybe we could reduce initial costs if we develop a standard or a cookie-cutter system," says Hirose.
Kwasinski agrees that adoption of microgrid technology will be slow until capital costs come down. "But I see value in specific applications, where you have initial costs that can be offset with gains in reliability," he says. He notes that in the United States, the Department of Defense is working with companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Siemens to create microgrids for military field stations and tactical operations centers. When people place a premium on reliability, he says, the benefits of these miniature grids can far outweigh the costs.
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