London, UK and Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan, May 10, 2021 – Kiwi Power, a veteran global energy technology company backed by ENGIE, has partnered with ENECHANGE Ltd., a Japanese leader in energy technology innovation that is publicly traded and working with hundreds of suppliers, to bring its advanced distributed energy resource platform to Japan. Kiwi Power’s technology will support the expansion of flexibility programs in the nation, increasing grid reliability and distributed energy resource monetisation opportunities across Japan’s fast growing, $136+ billion power trading market.
Clean energy in Japan has proliferated rapidly since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. Most recently, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced the country’s “Green Growth Strategy,” with the aim of achieving carbon-neutrality by 2050. This increase in renewables and a more diverse power mix has paved the way for a growing demand for energy flexibility programs to help balance supply and demand on the nation’s grid.
Kiwi Power’s partnership with ENECHANGE will bring Japanese energy players in the Commercial & Industrial (C&I) sectors the technology and confidence to participate in the country’s emerging flexibility programs. Kiwi Power’s energy technology platform, featuring Virtual Power Plant (VPP) capabilities, is one of the only solutions to provide software and hardware to its clients, making it easy for Japanese energy players to get started and begin to monetise their underutilised energy assets. Kiwi Power also brings ENECHANGE and its clients extensive expertise from a decade of experience developing the flexibility markets in the UK, which shares characteristics with Japan as an island nation.
Jay Zoellner, CEO of Kiwi Power on the partnership:
“Kiwi Power is committed to helping Japan realize carbon neutrality by 2050 and grid flexibility is key to making the country’s energy transition economically feasible. We are beyond thrilled to be working with ENECHANGE as our distribution partner in the Japanese market. As the Japanese market opens up, we expect to see billions of dollars of value and grid efficiency unlocked through our technology.”
Yohei Kiguchi, CEO of ENECHANGE Co., Ltd., is equally enthusiastic about the partnership.
“We’ve been eagerly following the global trends in the VPP sector and it is clear that Kiwi Power has a globally competitive solution,” he said. “ Kiwi Power has a strong track record and has been recognized by global leaders like ENGIE, and our alliance presents a fantastic opportunity. The combination of Kiwi Power’s technology and ENECHANGE’s network present a strong foundation for growth in the Japanese market.”
In 2019, Kiwi Power was named as one of the winners in the Japan Energy Challenge (renamed ENECHANGE Insight Ventures in 2021) and has since been engaged with ENECHANGE in supporting Japan’s energy transition.
View the full press release published by Business Wire.