News Releases

TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation (Tokyo: 6502) today announced that it will participate in a demonstration experiment in summertime demand response (DR) in the retail electricity market. The experiment is part of the Yokohama Smart City Project (YSCP), an ambitious program to apply and verify a range of smart grid technologies in a modern city.

Designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of DR in cutting peak power demand, the project will cover a building segment of 26 buildings, factories and housing complexes equipped with building energy management systems (BEMS) and a homes segment of approximately 3,500 of the approximately 4,200 household in Yokohama equipped with home energy management systems (HEMS), solar panels and the like. The project will start on July 9.

The buildings segment will experiment with “negawatt” power trading to prove its validity in systematically meeting electricity demand. In negawatt power trading, saved electricity is treated as a commodity that can be traded as kilowatt hours. Consumers offer a price, a tender, for the electricity they target to save to the community energy management system (CEMS) operator that oversees the overall system, as part of the effort to achieve target savings in the demonstration area. The CEMS accepts tenders, starting with the lowest desired unit price. The CEMS also sets a uniform incentive bonus based on the highest desired unit price. The experiment will investigate the level of bonus payment required to achieve a desired level of power saving.

In addition, with the goal of cutting peak power demand, the CEMS will also positively encourage consumers to save electricity. In earlier YSCP experiments to date, participants were notified of possible tight power supply and the triggering of demand response the day before. In this demonstration, they will be notified twice more, an hour before and 15 minutes before power peak periods, in order to see how they respond and try to save electricity.

Approximately 3500 households–the most yet in Japan^*1–will participate in the homes segment demonstration. Based on weather forecasts, the power supply-and-demand conditions for the following day will be forecast. If the power supply is expected to be tight, the community energy management system (CEMS) will e-mail participants, requesting them to try to save electricity during peak periods. In response to this request, the participants will adjust the temperature settings of their air conditioners, change the times when they leave home, and so on. The electricity saved will be aggregated by the HEMS units, and incentive bonuses will be paid to participating households according to their energy savings.

The households will be divided into groups according to the equipment used, and by three fee systems. The results from each group will be compared to identify the fee system most effective in motivating energy savings.

The YSCP project was selected by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in April 2010 as a “next-generation energy/social system demonstration area,” to serve as a stepping stone toward the construction and overseas expansion of Japanese technologies and systems for smart communities. In Yokohama, a city with a population of 3.7 million, the local government and 35 companies are conducting various energy management experiments using HEMS, involving approximately 4200 households equipped with a HEMS, and a total of 29 buildings, condominiums and factories^*2. Toshiba is coordinating the overall YSCP project and also acts as an organizer or core member of the CEMS, BEMS, HEMS and other working groups.

The insights and expertise acquired through this project will be applied to the development of regional solutions in cooperation with municipal governments.

*1

As of July 9, 2014

*2

As of April 2014

 Regarding the demonstrations in the buildings segment

1. Regarding power negawatt trading in the coming demonstrations

(1) Setup

One day before the power supply is expected to be tight, the Toshiba-operated CEMS will notify facilities of the amount of energy savings required for the area as a whole. In response, the participants will offer bids for the amount of electricity they will save at a desired unit price per kilowatt hour. Bids are accepted in ascending order, starting with the lowest bid for incentive bonus per kilowatt hour. All incentive bonuses to be paid out will be the same at the highest desired unit price.

(2) Expected effects

By using a bidding mechanism, the participating facilities can declare their target savings in advance, as well as the incentive bonus they wish to receive if they meet their own targets. This way, they will be able to respond according to the local situation. It will also make it easier for energy companies to create energy usage plans for entire regions.

2. Summary of the demonstration

DR implementation dates	22 days from July 1 through September 30
DR target time period	1:00 - 4:00 PM (weekdays)
DR announcement conditions	Days on which the power supply is forecast to be tight
Companies involved (Target facilities)	Taisei Corporation (Taisei Technology Center) Meidensha Corporation (Yokohama World Porters) JGC Corporation (Ito Yokado, Bessho, Yokohama store) Marubeni Corporation (Minato Mirai Grand Central Tower) Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd. (Yokohama Landmark Tower, Mark Is Minato Mirai) Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. (Yokohama Mitsui Building) Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. (Yokohama Plant) Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. (Isogo Smart House) Mitsui Fudosan Residential Co., Ltd. (Park Homes Okurayama)* JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation (Isogo Employee Dormitory) * Daikyo Astage, Inc. (Lion’s Mansion, four locations) * NTT Docomo, Inc. (Nokendai Employee Dormitory) * Shimizu Corporation (Yokohama i-Mark Place) Pacific Convention Plaza Yokohama (Pacifico Yokohama)* MM21 DHC Co., Ltd. (Center Plant) * Yokohama Waterworks Bureau (Samukawa, Nishiya, Kosuzume, Mine) * Yokohama Water Recycling Center (North No. 1, Tsuzuki, West) *

 

*

Not participating in negawatt power trading

 The demonstrations in the homes segment

 

1. Summary of the demonstration

DR implementation dates	14 days, from July 9 through September 30
DR target time period	1:00 - 4:00 PM (weekdays)
DR announcement conditions	Days on which the power supply is forecast to be tight

2. Breakdown of fee systems and participant groups

1. CPP (Critical Peak Pricing)

Fee system in which advance notification is provided if the power supply is forecast to be tight and higher-than-normal fees are imposed

2. TOU (Time of Use)

Fee system in which fees are different for different time periods of the day, but these fees are the same throughout the year

3. PTR (Peak Time Rebate)

Fee system in which advance notification is provided if the power supply is forecast to be tight and incentive bonuses are paid according to the amount of energy saved

Participants by demonstration type		Configuration	Fee menus and demonstration overview
Households participating in demon- stration Approx. 3500 households	Ordinary households Approx. 3300 households	HEMS + solar panel Approx. 1900 households	Fee systems: 1 CPP,  2 TOU Aggressive energy saving will be requested. Results will be compared to those of last year’s demonstration.
		HEMS only Approx. 1400 households	Fee systems: 1 CPP, 2 TOU, 3 PTR Three fee systems are offered to measure the effects of different fee systems.
	Households with automatic control devices Approx. 200 households	HEMS + solar panel, etc. Approx. 200 households	Fee systems: 1 CPP, 2 TOU The effects of automatic control are also measured..

YSCP overview