Hirohara Battery Energy Storage System
The Hirohara Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) is located in Oaza Hirohara, Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture. The 30MW/120MWh battery is Eku’s first in Japan, and the company has agreed a 20-year offtake agreement for the project with Tokyo Gas.
Construction is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2024 and the battery is expected to begin operating in 2026. Once live the BESS will be capable of storing enough electricity to power approximately 63,000 households for four hours1.
Project financing has been arranged by MUFG Bank representing the first battery storage project they have arranged finance for in Japan. Under the offtake agreement, Eku Energy will own the BESS while Tokyo Gas will own 100% of its operating rights for 20 years, with Eku Energy responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the facility.
As the global net zero transition accelerates, Japan has introduced its GX (green transformation)policy which provides a roadmap for economic growth and emissions reductions. Increasing renewable generation is a vital part of this roadmap and battery storage has a critical role to play in balancing electricity supply and demand.
1 The Electricity consumed by a household per day is calculated as 11.4kWh. (Source: Ministry of the Environment 2013 Report on Actual Electricity Consumption in Households). Based on estimated population of Miyazaki City as of April 2024 (Source: Miyazaki City)
At Eku, we take community engagement and benefits sharing seriously. We want to ensure that our Williamsdale BESS grants program can support a broad range of initiatives that can deliver long-lasting, positive impacts for surrounding communities.
Through ongoing community engagement, we have co-designed the following Investment Principles to guide the program design. We welcome applications that support or are in-line with the following:
[A] Employment and education: Initiatives that support educational or employment outcomes (e.g. literacy; numeracy; science, technology, engineering and maths).
[B] Social connectedness: Initiatives that support community connectedness, wellbeing and livability.
[C] Environmental: Initiatives that support or drive sustainability and environmental outcomes.
If you would like to contact a member of our team directly to ask a question or discuss matters about this project, please contact us below:
