Japan's first fund dedicated to grid storage batteries begins full-scale operation
Raised over 8 billion yen from 11 public and private investors
ITOCHU has begun full-scale operation of the "Tokyo Electric Power Storage Investment Limited Partnership" with over 8 billion yen in investment from private institutional investors.
The Fund is managed by GI Energy Storage Management, which was jointly established with Gore Street Capital (GSC), and is Japan's first dedicated fund that handles everything from investment and development to operation in new energy storage plants (including those with renewable energy facilities) in the Kanto area and elsewhere. As a general partner, ITOCHU will utilize its abundant investment candidate projects and GSC's fund management track record and know-how to build the optimal energy storage system for each project, and will return its operational know-how to LPs, thereby promoting the further spread of energy storage plants.
Energy storage plants are expected to function as supply and demand adjustments, which are essential for the expansion of renewable energy, but they will require a large amount of capital and advanced operational know-how to ensure the necessary adjustment capacity in the future. The fund aims to "maximize the use of renewable energy sources," "stabilize the supply and demand of electricity," and "expand the energy storage plant market and establish a financing model." By receiving capital participation from a variety of industries, including real estate, services, automobiles, and finance, the partners will work together to achieve these goals. At the same time, they will accelerate the promotion of "HTT (Reduce, Create, Store)" of electricity, which is the goal of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and contribute to the realization of zero-emission Tokyo. Going forward, the plan is to launch the first energy storage station around fiscal 2025, and then proceed with the development and operation of energy storage stations one after another.
ITOCHU has developed a product lineup that meets market needs, from home storage batteries to large-scale energy storage systems for industrial and grid use. The company will accelerate its efforts to ensure that the "adjustment capacity" created by these efforts, such as demand response using remote control software installed in home storage batteries and participation in a grid storage battery project using its own large-scale energy storage systems, contributes to the stable expansion of the introduction of renewable energy.