AutoGrid is scaling up its presence in Japan. AutoGrid announced a partnership with Macnica, a leading Japanese supplier of networking and software products to governments and enterprise customers, to deploy its suite of energy internet applications, AutoGrid Flex and AutoGrid Engage.

The partnership will focus on extending AutoGrid Virtual Power Plant (VPP), Energy Storage Management System (ESMS), Distributed Energy Resources Management (DERMS) and Demand Response Optimization and Management System (DROMS) modules of its Flex platform to regulated and deregulated energy companies throughout Japan.

As part of the agreement, Macnica will leverage its deep experience in networking and enterprise IT software to develop and offer new energy solutions to its existing customer base of government entities and large enterprises within Japan. Macnica will provide value-added services such as local Japanese hardware, enterprise software integration and customer support services to offer turnkey solutions built on the AutoGrid Flex platform.

"AutoGrid's expertise in applying big data and AI technologies to real-time optimization of distributed energy resources will become increasingly critical in Japan with the rapid deployment of solar PV and energy storage in the coming years," said Shigenori Mori, Macnica managing executive officer. "We are delighted to be partnering with AutoGrid to offer end-to-end solutions to energy companies in the area of energy storage and microgrids for the Japanese market."

Since 2016, the Japanese electricity market has undergone a massive transformation with more than 450 competing deregulated energy retail companies offering products for management of distributed solar and storage. To encourage changes to the generation mix, the Japanese government is promoting the installation of lithium-ion batteries for residential and industrial use by subsidizing the capital costs of the battery system.

One important driver of residential behind-the-meter storage sales in Japan has been dubbed the "2019 problem" by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The problem refers to nearly 547,000 Japanese households that will come off their buyback program for rooftop PV in 4Q 2019, and more than 100,000 every year thereafter, creating a significant market opportunity for behind-the-meter residential storage retailers.

As a response to these changes, major Japanese utilities and energy companies, including Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. and Chubu Electric Power Co. have set up new subsidiaries that will sell solar and storage to households, anticipating that from 2018-2050 Japanese households and businesses will add an estimated 128 GW of small-scale PV.

"We are seeing strong demand for AutoGrid Flex in Japan since going live with our first residential energy storage based VPP deployment in early 2018," said Dr. Amit Narayan, AutoGrid chief executive officer. "This partnership with Macnica will further accelerate adoption of our technology platform and allow us to serve our customers in Japan more effectively."

AutoGrid | www.auto-grid.com

Macnica Networks | www.macnica.net