Toyota Tsusho Corporation (“Toyota Tsusho”) and Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation (“Eurus Energy”) announced that they will conduct operational verification of a battery energy storage system using electrified vehicle (EV) batteries in conjunction with the Eurus Tashirotai Wind Farm (location: Kazuno City, Akita Prefecture) owned by the Eurus Energy Group.
While various countries are promoting the spread and expansion of electrified vehicles, including battery electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles, as part of their measures for realization of carbon neutrality, a large amount of used vehicle batteries is expected to be generated in the future. Also, as the introduction of renewable energy continues to expand, the need for battery energy storage systems to stabilize electricity supply and demand for unstable power sources such as solar and wind power generation is expected to grow.
In these circumstances, the reuse of used vehicle batteries for battery energy storage systems is being considered as an effective way of utilizing used vehicle batteries.
The two companies will now install and verify a battery energy storage system (1 MW/3 MWh), which has been jointly developed by combining the vehicle batteries, control parts and technology of Toyota Motor Corporation used in EVs with the knowledge of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. of grid connection, at the Eurus Tashirotai Wind Farm (capacity: 7.650 MW), whose feed-in-tariff (FIT) scheme period has expired.
New vehicle batteries will be used in this verification project in anticipation of the reuse of used vehicle batteries that will be generated in the future. The project is aimed at maximizing the value provided by and ensuring business continuity of large-scale wind power plants whose FIT periods have expired, as well as control that contributes to the optimal operation of charging and discharging of storage batteries and stabilization of the power system, based on price fluctuations in the domestic wholesale electricity market and the supply and demand situation of retail electricity providers. It will be conducted for several years in cooperation with a subsidiary of Eurus Energy, Eurus Green Energy Corporation, which operates retail electricity sales, starting around fall of 2023.
Through this verification project, Toyota Tsusho and Eurus Energy aim to achieve the reuse of used vehicle batteries for stationary storage batteries, and promote activities for realizing a decarbonized and recycling-oriented society through the spread and expansion of renewable energy.
