Project will manage residential energy supply and demand using battery storage units

Kyocera Corporation (President: Hideo Tanimoto) announced that it has been registered with the Sustainable open Innovation Initiative (SII) as a resource aggregator for a new program to help control energy resources among Japanese consumers. Kyocera will focus on remote management of energy supply and demand using home battery storage technologies in a new phase of virtual power plant (VPP) testing. The project is part of a program implemented by Japans Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) to test a VPP utilizing consumer energy resources this year.

Background and Purpose

Since The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011, widespread attention has been garnered for developing a stable supply of renewable energy and promoting energy efficiency. Consequently, a VPP capable of remotely controlling and integrating distributed power resources including storage batteries and renewable power generation facilities is in high demand. By using a highly accurate energy management system (EMS), the VPP is expected to function as an adjustment and supply source of the energy. Project participants aim to establish a system that can optimize energy supply and demand through remote management.

Overview of the Test Project

Using Kyoceras Home Energy Management System (HEMS) technology, Kyocera will remotely control energy resources from the storage batteries provided by Kyocera for each household. Energy from the storage batteries will be managed by the companys POM SYSTEM®, a comprehensive energy control system, within 15 minutes (or less) of major changes in demand. This VPP will test a method to ensure a regulated power supply (power source I-b*) for the utility grid through the integration of consumer power resources. The VPP test project is being conducted in cooperation with Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. and ENERES Co., Ltd. (ENERES in cooperation with KDDI Corporation), which serve as parent aggregators integrating and controlling multiple resource aggregators assuming a possible power trading market.

In addition to the testing areas where Tokyo, Chubu and Kyushu electric power companies serve for the possible establishment of VPP conducted last year, the areas covered by Kansai, Chugoku and Shikoku electric power companies will be added this year. By expanding the testing area and connecting more consumers, the participants will be able to examine technical and institutional issues in hardware and software under closer to real-world conditions.

Since 2014, Kyocera has participated in an earlier phase of this project with METI and the Institute of Applied Energy (IAE), where the participants have established automated demand response (ADR) systems with aggregators and a highly accurate demand response system in anticipation of the "negawatt" power exchange market. In 2016, Kyocera participated in a VPP test project using storage batteries and IoT technologies, as well as the ADR system.

Through the advanced test for the power source I-b and the know-how gained from the test project to date, Kyocera aims to establish a group control system of distributed power resources with rapid demand response using its products such as solar power generating systems and storage batteries. Kyocera will focus on developing technology and storage batteries capable of responding to real-time markets using new methods of electricity transaction.

* Power source I-b: One of the classifications of utility power sources to be secured with demand-adjustable supply.
"POM SYSTEM" is a registered trademark of Kyocera Corporation in Japan.

About KYOCERA

Kyocera Corporation (NYSE:KYO)(TOKYO:6971) (http://global.kyocera.com/), the parent and global headquarters of the Kyocera Group, was founded in 1959 as a producer of fine ceramics (also known as "advanced ceramics"). By combining these engineered materials with metals and integrating them with other technologies, Kyocera has become a leading supplier of solar power generating systems, electronic devices, semiconductor packages, printers, copiers, mobile phones, cutting tools and industrial components. During the year ended March 31, 2017, the companys consolidated net sales totaled 1.42 trillion yen (approx. USD12.7 billion). Kyocera appears on the "Top 100 Global Innovators" list by Clarivate Analytics and is ranked #522 on Forbes magazines 2017 "Global 2000" list of the worlds largest publicly traded companies.