en.Wedoany.com Reported - Akaysha Energy and its partners have initiated a large-scale battery storage project in Iizuka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The project has a capacity of 20 MW/82 MWh, with developers including Australia's Akaysha Energy, Ibeet Inc, and Tokyu Land Corporation. The three parties established a limited liability company under the same name last September.
Located in the Seta district of Iizuka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, on Japan's southern Kyushu Island, the project is named the Iizuka Seta Energy Storage Project. The Kyushu region has abundant solar irradiation, and since the Japanese government introduced feed-in tariff policies in 2012, a significant number of solar photovoltaic facilities have been added in the area. Triggered by the prolonged shutdown of nuclear power units following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, this policy aimed to reduce reliance on nuclear energy and successfully spurred rapid expansion of solar power generation. However, it has also led to widespread curtailment of solar power during the day. Therefore, battery energy storage system assets like the Iizuka Seta Energy Storage Project are being promoted to mitigate curtailment while providing grid stability services.
The project is scheduled for completion in fiscal year 2027 and has secured a "Fiscal Year 2024 Subsidy for Expanding Renewable Energy Introduction and Supporting Introduction of Grid-Connected Batteries and Other Power Storage Systems" from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). This subsidy program can cover approximately one-third of the capital expenditure costs for developers. Additionally, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government subsidy and the long-term decarbonized power source auction capacity market tender are the three main support mechanisms for developing megawatt-scale battery storage systems in Japan.
Akaysha Energy, backed by investor Blackrock, is known for projects including the Waratah Super Battery in New South Wales. The company recently completed another large project in the region—the 415 MW/1660 MWh Orana BESS, located in the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ). Akaysha Energy's operations have expanded to the United States, Germany, and Japan.
Project partner Ibeet Inc is a joint venture between Itochu Corporation and Tokyo Century. Established in 2021, Ibeet provides digital energy services and equipment leasing for residential, commercial, and industrial sectors, and sells solar power, based on the Gridshare aggregation software platform acquired from UK-based Moixa. Ibeet is also an investor in the Libra LLC consortium of Tokyu Land Corporation, which is developing a total of 174 MW of BESS project pipeline in Japan. Tokyu Land entered the grid-scale BESS market in 2023 and is currently developing approximately 340 MW of projects in Japan, including the JPY 30 billion (approximately USD 184.7 million) Libra LLC portfolio.
Japanese battery energy storage system integrator PowerX earlier this year revealed it had received a 230 MWh equipment supply order from Itochu Corporation, Tokyo Century, and Mitsubishi Estate for a project in Chikuzen, Fukuoka Prefecture. PowerX, along with Itochu Corporation's in-house BESS brand Blue Storage, will also provide system integration for the Iizuka project, with Akaysha Energy contributing technical and commissioning expertise. This information was sourced from Energy-Storage.news.
