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Japan to build virtual power plant using American energy storage technology

Source：ESS News


North American battery energy storage systems (BESS) company Lightergy and its wholly owned subsidiary Lightening Grid Quebec (LGQ) have signed a memorandum of understanding to deploy their technology at a planned state-of-the-art energy storage and VPP system in Japan.


Lightergy and LGQ made the deal with Canon Marketing Japan (CMJ), a company affiliated with the Canon technology giant. CMJ will leverage its extensive network in Japan to build a value chain for the North American technology across commercial, industrial, and utility-scale applications.


The Japanese company also plans to buy a significant volume of residential and utility scale energy storage systems from LGQ to establish an advanced virtual power plant for the Japanese market. This depends on the successful completion of an evaluation and preparation period, but 2026 is the projected launch timeline for the virtual power plant.


This was confirmed by LGQ’s Chief Operating Officer, Guy Laliberte, who said “Leading edge applications for the Japanese market will be demonstrated in 2025. “After a successful evaluation, the full-scale launch is planned to occur in 2026, affirming CMJ’s sustainability initiative. With batteries powered by Lightergy and LGQ’s technology, CMJ will establish one of the most advanced—perhaps the most advanced—VPP systems in the world.”


LGQ is the manufacturing part of Lightergy. It boasts more than 100 patents and patents pending, as well as two decades of experience in energy storage and electric grid technology. It works with the Unites States’ military among other clients.


Lightergy’s President and CEO, Michael Epstein, described CMJ’s interest in bringing the company’s technology to Japan as “a validation of the innovative work we have been doing in battery storage technology since 2007, in both the defense industry and commercial space.”

 
“This is the first step to expand our mass production of batteries and ESS at our LGQ facility,” Epstein added.


The deal between the Japanese and North American businesses was signed at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo. CMJ expects it to benefit Japan’s electricity grid, which currently depends on imports for 94% of its primary energy supply, according to the Federation of Electrical Power Companies of Japan. This leads to supply shocks, leaving Japan reliant on emergency backup and energy imports.


The agreement aims to create a framework for the Canadian government to import products to Japan. LGQ also plans to export products from its facility in the Quebec region of Shawnigan, which is abundant in clean energy materials.


Japan allocated 1.09 GW of storage across 30 projects at its last capacity auction in May 2024.

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