TEPCO JV to Enter Storage Battery Business in Australia

Tokyo, May 29 (Jiji Press)--Jera Co., a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. <9501> and Chubu Electric Power Co. <9502>, said Tuesday that it will enter storage battery business in Australia. The thermal power and fuel company agreed to explore opportunities to deploy energy storage solutions in the Asia-Pacific region with Australian power company Lyon Group and Fluence Energy LLC, a U.S. storage battery maker partly held by German industrial giant Siemens AG. Under their plan, the three companies will spend a total of 120 billion yen to build solar power plants equipped with lithium-ion batteries in three regions in Australia. Their combined power generation capacities will reach some 550,000 kilowatts. One of the power plants will be built in South Australia. It will have a 100,000-kilowatt battery system, one of the largest in the world. The generated electricity will be sold locally. The companies aim to start running the power plants in 2019. Jera expects to invest around 10 billion yen. The company hopes to learn know-how about the storage battery business, as the renewable energy market is forecast to expand. END