Japan to launch 5-year, Y100 bil smart grid trial project

ORIGINAL: Japan Today
Saturday 10th April, 04:12 AM JST

TOKYO —

The government will launch a five-year trial project with total spending of 100 billion yen to prove the efficiency of ‘‘smart grid’’ systems linking power suppliers with households using energy-saving technologies.

The project will begin in four major areas—

• Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, 
• Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture, 
• Toyota in Aichi Prefecture and the 
• Keihanna area covering Kyoto, Osaka and Nara, 

the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.

Municipalities will flesh out the details of the project with large corporations in the areas by the end of June, the ministry said.

The Yokohama city government plans to equip 4,000 homes with ‘‘smart meters’’ to automatically adjust the amount of electricity supplied to each home, while monitoring how electricity is being consumed in the entire community participating in the trial, the ministry said.

The Toyota city government, Toyota Motor Corp. and other regional companies will implement a power-saving project involving various households and next-generation environmentally friendly vehicles.

In the Keihanna area, the Kyoto prefectural government and Kansai Research Institute, a government-backed foundation overseeing the Kansai Science City project, will jointly equip 1,000 homes with solar cell equipment to enable each household to check how much electricity it is consuming.

The Kitakyushu city government will implement a project to save electricity in cooperation with regional companies led by Nippon Steel Corp. and households, the ministry said.

The four areas selected for the project have set numerical goals for cutting carbon dioxide emissions based on the smart grid project, it added.