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Eneres Launches Battery Management Service for Demand Leveling

October 20, 2014 by Jeff Shepard

Eneres Co., Ltd. is launching a new battery management service for users of its brokered electric power purchasing service, utilizing advanced power demand forecasting technology developed through its PPS (Power Producer & Supplier ) supply/demand management agency business. Eneres procures a huge quantity of battery storage systems from Toshiba IT & Control Systems Corporation, to install for Eneres users at a low initial cost. The service features remote control of battery charging and discharging. Eneres is planning to install 10,000 of the battery storage systems in total. In view of recent issues with Feed-in Tariff (FIT) which revealed with the withdrawal from new contracts for renewable energy purchases by some electric power utilities, Eneres expects that battery management will prove itself to be a breakthrough in the diffusion of renewable energy.

As a pioneer in the energy information service provider, Eneres boasts its own unique technology and a wealth of experience in energy distribution information, specifically in demand forecasting, cultivated through its PPS supply/demand management agency business, and power generation forecasting by meteorologists (Eneres is licensed by the Meteorological Agency as a forecasting business). The company has already built up approximately 2 million kW in managed electric power capacity, along with gross sales of approximately 10,000 energy management systems (hereinafter “EMS”). The implementation of this new Eneres battery management service takes advantage of these management achievements.

Eneres provides the new service in combination with its energy coordination service. Its massive procurement of battery storage systems enables its customers (power consumers) to enjoy a remarkably economical initial cost. In addition, by utilizing its knowhow in supply/demand management and effectively controlling the charging and discharging of the storage batteries, Eneres enables customers to save even more on electric power expenses (compared to using only the ordinary energy coordination service).

Benefits to Power Consumers include: Lower electric power expenses by reducing contracted electric power through “peak cut” control and Lower electric power expenses by charging batteries during off-peak nighttime hours when price is lower and discharging them during daytime.

These measures greatly improve the profitability of adopting battery storage, making this a groundbreaking new service that will expand support for the utilization of storage batteries by power consumers. In addition, the battery storage systems can be used as backup power supplies in the event of an emergency or power outage.

For electric power utilities, controlling the charging and discharging of battery storage systems can reduce the differences (imbalances) between generated power and demand due to variations in renewable energy output and ambient temperature. Other benefits are stable supply/demand balance and fewer hours of inefficient generator operation, as well as less expense for supplementary energy in the event of a power shortfall.

With the adoption of high-capacity solar, wind, and other renewable energy power systems, battery storage systems to smooth out the natural variation in generated power output are necessary for achieving a stable supply of power. Thus, by installing large numbers of battery storage systems in the market, the Eneres battery management service will give a significant boost to the diffusion of renewable energy. It will be particularly helpful in addressing the recent difficulties of a number of electric power utilities that backed away from new contracts for the purchase of renewable energy.

One of the main causes of this was an excessive imbalance between power supply and demand on clear days in spring and autumn, when space cooling and heating are little utilized, so that power output from solar and wind generators exceeds power consumption during the day time. This problem stems from the increasing use of natural energy—characterized by large variations in power output—under current electric power systems, which have little penetration of battery storage systems. The diffusion of battery storage systems is a necessary condition for the full-scale diffusion of renewable energy.