NGK INSULATORS, LTD. (hereinafter "NGK") announces that it has received an order from OMRON FIELD ENGINEERING CO., LTD. (hereinafter "OFE") and has begun operation of NAS batteries for the storage of procured electricity for self-wheeling* of electricity derived from renewable energy. 

Flowchart of self-wheeling project for electricity from renewable energy

The NAS batteries have been installed at a solar power generation plant newly established in idle land within Miyazu City, Kyoto Prefecture (the former site of a ski slope), and will be used for self-wheeling in which electricity (electricity from renewable energy) derived from renewable energy will be supplied to OMRON's Keihanna Innovation Center (in Kizugawa City, Kyoto Prefecture), a remote area, through a power transmission and distribution network of general power transmission and distribution system operators. Combining the NAS batteries, which enable large-capacity power storage, and OFE's energy management system will enable optimal control of electricity from renewable energy, which varies in the amount generated depending on the length of daylight hours and weather, and will promote the self-generation and self-consumption (self-procurement) of electricity from renewable energy, as well as contribute to the reduction of carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions from business activities. Going forward, OFE is also considering utilization of the large capacity of NAS batteries for use as emergency power sources at municipal facilities during disasters and participating in the capacity market or the supply-demand adjustment market.

In an aim toward carbon neutrality, NGK is working on RE100, an initiative that aims for corporations to cover the electricity used in business activities with 100% renewable energy. It is projected that there will be future demand for self-wheeling as a solution to the introduction of electricity from renewable energy which had been difficult to procure due to issues such as limited space to install solar power generation equipment.

NAS batteries can discharge electricity over long periods of time thanks to their large capacity, so they are used for various purposes such as the stabilization of renewable energy, adjustments to the balance of supply and demand of electricity, and emergency power sources. They have so far been installed at more than 250 locations worldwide, and significantly help to reduce environmental loads. By demonstrating the usefulness of NAS batteries through self-wheeling, NGK will advance further sales promotions and help contribute to expanding the implementation of renewable energy around the world as well as to the realization of carbon neutrality.

*Self-wheeling: An electricity supply system that allows business operators who own power generation equipment for self-generation to transmit and supply the electricity generated by utilizing that equipment to the company's own factory or business location in remote areas and use it through a power transmission and distribution network of general power transmission and distribution system operators.

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