Sumitomo Electric has followed up the US launch of its newest vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) technology, announcing a deal in Japan.

The Japanese government has published the list of battery aggregators that successfully applied to a scheme to promote energy storage systems.

NGK Insulators will supply a sodium-sulfur (NAS) battery storage system to a project for utility Sala Energy in Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture.

A large-scale sodium-sulfur (NAS) battery energy storage system made by NGK Insulators will be installed at a former LNG terminal in Japan.

Andy Colthorpe caught up with Moixa CTO Chris Wright to hear about how a tie-in with trading company ITOCHU and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is creating smarter energy networks in Japan using solar, batteries, electric cars – and Moixa’s GridShare software platform.

Softbank Energy and Kyocera, two major names in Japan’s solar energy industry, are partnering with utilities, grid operators and other stakeholders to execute virtual power plant (VPP) projects backed by the government.

Japanese trading house Itochu has invested £5 million (US$7.04 million) into UK-based energy storage and related services provider Moixa, which will enable Itochu to add Moixa’s ‘GridShare’ aggregation platform to its own suite of battery storage solutions.