Powervault, a leading UK home energy storage provider, has received an order from JXTG Nippon Oil and Energy Corporation, one of Japan’s major energy utilities, in a study on virtual power plants and second life batteries. Powervault will share its expertise in UK markets, seeking to outline innovative solutions that can be applied in Japan.

Powervault was selected as the winner of the Japan Energy Challenge 2018, a consortium of forward-thinking Japanese and European partners in the energy sector. This victory led to a year of fruitful negotiations. Joe Warren, Managing Director of Powervault, said: “We’re delighted to be working with JXTG. Both the UK and Japanese energy markets are going through a phase of exciting change, and domestic battery market uptake in particular is taking off. With JXTG’s market position and Powervault’s unique expertise in this area, this study engagement comes at a pivotal time.”

The Japanese energy market is undergoing significant transformation.  In particular, the increase in distributed generation and intermittent energy resources will lead to difficulties for network operators balancing the grid. From 2021 onwards, balancing markets will open step by step and batteries are expected to play a central role. The Japanese energy player’s study on energy storage and virtual power plants comes at a critical time.

With increasing competition and new revenue opportunities, the stage is set for disruptive technologies and business models to help shape the energy transformation. 

The study will focus on second life batteries and virtual power plants, both of which are of growing interest in Japan. Given the rapid growth of electric vehicles, the market is anticipating huge future demands for recycling of end-of-life lithium cells. Re-using these cells in fleets of domestic batteries, and in turn using these batteries to help balance the electricity grid, will help solve climate change and waste challenges simultaneously.

The Powervault 3eco is one of the few commercially available second life batteries in the UK, and Powervault’s depth of knowledge in supply chain, re-manufacturing and O&M will provide critical insights for the burgeoning industry in Japan.

With a network of around 13,000 ENEOS-branded service stations in Japan and business operations in more than 20 countries worldwide, JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation focuses on delivering a stable supply of energy with due attention to the environment in the areas where it operates.

JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation is one of the three core companies of  JXTG Group and a wholly-owned subsidiary of JXTG Holdings, Inc. which is a listed company on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Here, at Powervault, we look forward to the results of our commissioned study, and hope these lead to us contributing to the circularity of a sustainable energy transition.