Japanese grid operators contract load dispatch standardisation
Nine Japanese grid operators, through a joint venture, have tapped Hitachi for a load dispatching system to standardise how they balance demand and supply.
Japanese tech major Hitachi received the order from Transmission and Distribution IT & OT Systems LLC for a complete set of their load dispatching system, otherwise known as the System.
The System is being deployed by nine of ten domestic Japanese grid operators in the Transmission and Distribution IT & OT Systems LLC, a joint venture established in September 2023 by 10 domestic power transmission and distribution companies in the country.
The System will standardise a load dispatching system for each area under the jurisdiction of the joint venture’s member operators, excluding the Okinawa area.
Transmission and Distribution IT & OT Systems currently consists of:
- Hokkaido Electric Power Network
- Tohoku Electric Power Network
- TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) Power Grid
- Chubu Electric Power Grid
- Hokuriku Electric Power Transmission & Distribution Company
- Kansai Transmission and Distribution
- Chugoku Electric Power Transmission & Distribution Company
- Shikoku Electric Power Transmission & Distribution Company
- Kyushu Electric Power Transmission and Distribution
- The Okinawa Electric Power Company, which will not be deploying the System
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The System will perform a wide-area Load Frequency Control (LFC) function that will be introduced for the first time in Japan, as well as optimisation calculations for nationwide generator start-stop planning and supply and demand control.
Hitachi will build the system by utilising its experience in Japan alongside Hitachi Energy’s package, Network Manager.
Until now, Japan’s load dispatching system, which serves to balance demand and supply, had been developed by the transmission and distribution companies in each area.
In announcing the contract, Hitachi cites how, as grid operations continue to become more complex, there is a need to develop a platform that is scalable, flexible and transparent for future regulation changes and can be commonly used by all operators to achieve improved resilience and social cost reduction.
Against this, the nine power companies decided to standardise their systems, contracting Hitachi.
“Hitachi has continuously contributed to stable operations of social infrastructures in various fields by amalgamating its IT, OT and products. In this project, we aim to realise a national scale power interchange system by synergising the capabilities of Hitachi’s BUs (business units) and Hitachi Energy, which have abundant experience in Japanese and global markets, respectively,” said Keiji Kojima, president & CEO, Hitachi, Ltd.
In announcing their selection, Hitachi also cites their record of developing systems for electric power companies in Japan, including the current load dispatching system.
Said Claudio Facchin, senior vice president and executive officer of Hitachi, Ltd. and CEO of Hitachi Energy:
“The establishment of a new operating model led by our customer Transmission and Distribution IT & OT Systems LLC in Japan is a path-breaking effort leveraging digitalisation to foster an ecosystem of transparency, collaboration and economic rationality while maintaining the agility to adapt to future energy system dynamics.
“As electricity increasingly becomes the backbone of the entire energy system and with Hitachi as a strategic partner over its lifecycle, Japan’s power transmission and distribution system will safeguard energy security while addressing some of the social and environmental needs of the country.”
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.