The pureplay energy storage developer, jointly owned by Australia's Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) fund and Canada's British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) made the announcement last week (2 July) via a brief LinkedIn post. Contact online >>
The pureplay energy storage developer, jointly owned by Australia''s Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) fund and Canada''s British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) made the announcement last week (2 July) via a brief LinkedIn post.
"There are certain major milestones to hit until a utility scale battery energy storage system is ready to support the grid and be a major contributor to the #energytransition. Financial close is certainly one of those," the developer posted.
As reported by Energy-Storage.news in April, the company''s Hirohara BESS project will be a 30MW/120MWh (4-hour duration) asset in Oazu Hirohara, a region of Miyazaki Prefecture on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu.
It appears this site jumped the gun a little in reporting that previous announcement, assuming that financial close had already been achieved at that time, but as the post on Friday clarified, that is now the case.
Eku Energy said the financial close is a ''major milestone'' in preparing a BESS project to contribute to balancing the grid, and that the latest development showed the developer is ''on track to hit all future milestones as planned''.
Perhaps most notable about the project is the claimed "first-of-a-kind" offtake deal within the Japanese market that Eku Energy has signed for it, with utility company Tokyo Gas.
Tokyo Gas has contracted for full operating rights over a 20-year term to the Hirohara BESS, which Eku Energy will own. In April, the utility said in a Japanese-language press release that the project marked its first steps towards full-scale entry into the grid battery storage business.
Tokyo Gas would use its experience in energy trading markets to use battery storage to contribute to stabilising the grid and enabling greater integration of renewable energy.
At the same time, Tokyo Gas will also leverage the control capabilities of behind-the-meter (BTM) battery storage systems installed at customer premises, which could include commercial and industrial (C&I) facilities.
It is also a first in Japan—although not a first BESS project internationally—that Japanese bank MUFG has participated in project financing for. The bank is becoming somewhat prolific in the sector, particularly in the US, where last week Energy-Storage.news reported its involvement in a US$515 million finance raise by developer Eolian, and US$258 million secured by esVolta.
Eku Energy also said in its LinkedIn announcement that construction partners on the Hirohara BESS include integrated systems engineers Kinden Corporation, renewables specialist Looop and Fortec Architects, all Japan-headquartered companies.
Eku Energy has only been around in its present form for about a year-and-a-half and has projects under construction or in development in Australia, the UK and Italy.
Japan''s BESS market is in its relative infancy, and a lot of interest has been created recently by the Long Term Decarbonization Auction (LTDA), a new capacity market opportunity through which batteries and pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) projects were awarded a combined 1.67GW of 20-year contracts.
However, speaking in a panel discussion on Japan at the Asia Summit, Eku''s Nick Morley said that developer "knows for sure that the LTDA is not the only way to commercialise projects in Japan".
"One of the things that’s attractive about Japan is that there are multiple commercialisation pathways there. It’s not completely dependent on the LTDA," Morley said.
Yet, it is still early days for many of those pathways and Morley added that mechanisms like the LTDA coming from the policy space, as well as those "multiple commercialisation pathways" would both be beneficial in making Japan an attractive market for investment.
Fellow panellist Ross Bennett of German state-owned bank NORD/LB said that the LTDA is not the only way to finance a project or "the only way to obtain debt finance on a project" in Japan.
"We are also seeing other markets in long-term corporate offtake solutions. In Japan, there are several very large and strong credit-worthy players," Bennett said.
Meanwhile, Bennett said, different types of contracts and financing which could include different blends of long-term contracts either with corporate offtakers or underwritten by government schemes, along with merchant revenues, will likely take some time to evolve in Japan, as has been seen in other markets. Once that takes off, it could happen quite quickly Bennett said.
Morley said that if the diversity of commercialisation strategies in the country increases, lenders can also become more comfortable with a degree of merchant risk exposure.
For Eku Energy, and perhaps others, like Pacifico Energy, which delivered Japan''s first two BESS projects trading in the wholesale power market, there could be an advantage in being early in entering the market.
"There is a kind of incentive for greater risk-taking behaviour from developers in the storage business. In many markets, time and again, we see that there is a major first-mover advantage," Morley said.
Energy-Storage.news Premium subscribers can read the write-up of the Japan panel discussion from the Energy Storage Summit Asia 2024. For more information on next year’s Asia event, see the official website: ESN Premium subscribers can enjoy special discounts on tickets.
Battery storage developer Eku Energy has partnered with utility Tokyo Gas on a grid-scale energy storage project in Japan, with construction expected to start soon.
The developer, jointly owned by a fund managed by Macquarie Asset Management''s Green Investment Group (GIG) and institutional investor British Columbia Investment Management, announced the project today (24 April).
About Office energy storage tokyo
As the photovoltaic (PV) industry continues to evolve, advancements in Office energy storage tokyo have become critical to optimizing the utilization of renewable energy sources. From innovative battery technologies to intelligent energy management systems, these solutions are transforming the way we store and distribute solar-generated electricity.
When you're looking for the latest and most efficient Office energy storage tokyo for your PV project, our website offers a comprehensive selection of cutting-edge products designed to meet your specific requirements. Whether you're a renewable energy developer, utility company, or commercial enterprise looking to reduce your carbon footprint, we have the solutions to help you harness the full potential of solar energy.
By interacting with our online customer service, you'll gain a deep understanding of the various Office energy storage tokyo featured in our extensive catalog, such as high-efficiency storage batteries and intelligent energy management systems, and how they work together to provide a stable and reliable power supply for your PV projects.
