16 LEAF Battery Packs for a Large Solar Energy Storage Project in Japan

Nissan, Sumitomo and 4R Energy joined to make a big Energy Storage System

The goal is to show the possibility of reusing EV Batteries with 70% remaining energy density in Energy Storage projects

"Yumeshima, Osaka - The manmade island of Yumeshima in Osaka is now home to the world's first large-scale energy storage system, a project that also highlights the potential to reuse electric vehicle batteries."






Source: Nissan News Room

Japan contracts two massive Battery Storage Systems to balance Wind, Solar PV load

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has chosen three companies to install two large-scale battery systems in the northern part of the nation to support the expansion of wind and solar on Japan's electric grid.

Sumitomo's redox-flow battery will occupy 

a new 5,000 square meter facility in Hokkaido

Through the Large-scale Storage Battery System Demonstration Project, Hokkaido Electric Power Inc. (Sapporo, Japan) and Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. (Osaka, Japan) will jointly install a 60 MWh redox-flow battery on the island of Hokkaido. Additionally, Tohoku Electric Power Co. Ltd. (Sendai, Japan) will install a 20 MWh lithium-ion battery in the Tōhoku region.

“This project is Japan’s first effort to introduce large-scale storage batteries in electricity grids, and METI aims to rapidly acquire the necessary technology and know-how so as to utilize such batteries in electricity grids in a specific manner,” declares METI in a press statement.



Projects to study frequency variation, supply/demand balance

The two projects were chosen via a public solicitation held in April 2013. Tohoku Electric Power's lithium ion project was chosen to address the issue of frequency variation, and Sumitomo's redox flow battery has been chosen to look at the technology's ability to balance supply and demand at times when demand falls.

The Tōhoku project will coordinate the lithium ion batteries to operate with conventional power generation while utilizing the batteries as much as possible to adjust frequency, suppressing the impact on battery life.

In the Hokkaido project, the companies will not only look at how well the batteries address varying electricity output from wind and PV, but also at developing technology to control and manage the battery system. METI notes that redox-flow batteries can be used to deal with supply/demand balance over a long period of time.

METI aims for the projects to increase the capacity of the supply-demand adjustment function by 10% in each region.

Sumitomo to develop battery based on results of tests

Sumitomo and Hokkaido Electric plan to complete installation of the redox flow battery by the end of 2014, and carry out verification tests over the next three years. The massive battery system will occupy two floors of new building roughly 5,000 square meters in size, with the electrolyte tank on the first floor, and the cell stack and heat exchanger on the second floor.

The battery system will have a storage capacity of 60 MWh, and a rated output of 15 MWh.

The company notes that redox flow batteries can be used for a wide range of applications, including addressing frequency variation. Based on the results of the tests, Sumitomo plans to offer a redox flow battery with improved performance.






Source: Solar Server

2013-08-09 | Courtesy: METI; Image: Sumitomo | solarserver.com © Heindl Server GmbH

CHAdeMO : The Number of DC Fast Chargers has Doubled in One Year

TOKYO, Japan (January 22, 2013) – In just 12 months, the number of globally installed Electric Vehicle (EV) quick-chargers has doubled

As the name implies, quick-chargers recharge batteries in minutes rather than hours, to build range confidence of an EV and greatly enhance the practicality of zero-emission transport

Commenting on reaching the milestone of more than 2,000 CHAdeMO quick-chargers, Toshiyuki Shiga, President of the CHAdeMO Association – the driving force behind the global spread of quick-charging infrastructure ¬– said: “One year ago there were around 1,000 quick-chargers in the world, but most of those were in Japan

Today, we have more than 2,000 CHAdeMO quick-chargers in place in Europe and the US as well as Japan. There’ s even a” CHAdeMO quick-charger in oil-rich Abu Dhabi. And plans are in place to more than double this figure again, above 4,000, by the end of 2013"

The number of CHAdeMO DC Quick charger installed up to today is 2364.

-- (Japan 1605 Europe 601 USA 154 Others 4) last update 2013.01.31

Evolution of the number of CHAdeMO fast charging station

Locations of DC Fast Chargers Worldwide (click for Google Maps detailed locations)

Links:
Locations of all CHAdeMO Charging Stations
CHAdeMO Press Release


Source : CHAdeMO Association

First European DC Fast Charger offered by Nissan installed in France

Here it is ! The First DC Fast Charger out of the 400 Nissan is giving out in Europe has been installed in a supermarket in Haguenau, Alsace, France. It is the first step of a 6 DC Quick Chargers program called "Alsace Corridor Energetique"  in this French eastern region (All 6 chargers will be installed in Cora supermarket chain in this same region).

Obeying to Nissan's rules, the use of this CHAdeMO DCFC will be FREE for a year !

Alsace region has always played a leader role in France for EVs :
- It is one of the 2 regions in France matching the government incentive of 5,000 EUR (that makes 10,000 EUR of total rebate) for the purchase of an Electric Car
- Strasbourg, Alsace was the city choosen by Toyota and EDF to test the Prius Plugin for several years before it came out recently

More pictures on ChargeMap Facebook page

Cora Haguenau Supermarket

Ribbon cutting ceremony with Alsace Region, Nissan, Cora, and EDF representatives

Yoann NUSSBAUMER, Web entrepreneur and LEAF owner, was the first user of this DCFC

He developped a website called Chargemap to locate easily charge points and of course added this location

Yoann's LEAF charging :-)

Source: http://www.automobile-propre.com/2012/05/21/alsace-borne-recharge-rapide-haguenau/