TEPCO, Toyota to pilot stationary storage battery system using EV batteries

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. and Toyota Motor Corporation have developed a 3 MWh stationary storage battery system with an output of 1 MW made out of EV storage batteries. The BESS will be installed at Eurus Tashirotai Wind Farm in Japan for comprehensive verification at the ground level for the next several years. 

The project combines TEPCO's operating technology and safety standards for stationary storage batteries with  Toyota's system technology for electrified vehicle storage batteries. 

The companies claim that the storage battery market will continue to grow in light of renewable energy expansion and EV adoption, in sync with the global trend toward carbon neutrality. Therefore, it would be necessary to utilize storage batteries for EVs to meet the increasing demand for energy storage, they add. 

In this backdrop, TEPCO and Toyota have jointly developed a stationary storage battery system that can be used in combination with existing PCS by connecting multiple storage batteries for EVs. The verification project will confirm the system's operation and performance as well as feasibility, including its potential for business use in the electricity market.

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TEPCO will utilize the knowledge and technological capabilities it has cultivated in the electric power business to improve the utilization of renewable energy and meet the BCP needs of its customers, as well as to maintain the balance between supply and demand of electric power in order to build a stable energy supply system, according to the company. 

Toyota, on the other hand, will work with Toyota Industries Corporation, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, and Denso Corporation to utilize storage batteries for electrified vehicles that are safe, long-lasting, high quality, low cost, and high performance, as part of its various activities to realize a circular economy.

The results of the verification project will aid in developing storage battery systems with an eye toward consumer-oriented energy services and balancing electricity supply and demand capabilities in order to meet the energy storage needs of customers, the partners claim.

In addition, the companies have vowed to promote the use of storage batteries by continuing their efforts to build an energy system through local production for local consumption, and realize a recycling-oriented society for electrified vehicle storage batteries.