Tokyo, 13 July 2022 – Enel X Japan was recently awarded a Specified Wholesale Supplier (Aggregator) license after successfully filing a notification to the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry on June 27. The receipt of the license coincided with a recent government alert of an electricity supply-demand crunch, issued from June 27 to 30. Enel X worked to avoid a shortage on the electricity grid with the implementation of Economic Demand Response via its market-leading Virtual Power Plant (VPP).
Throughout the government alert period, Enel X called on its commercial & industrial customer portfolio to contribute to stabilising the grid via demand response. Energy users increased in-house power generation facilities and curbed demand to provide electricity supply via negotiated contracts. In addition, Enel X was called on to supply as much electricity as possible to the wholesale energy market (spot and intraday markets) to avoid the supply-demand crunch. Enel X worked to secure supply nationwide capacity by implemented Economic Demand Response in response to price signals from the wholesale market, where demand-side resources were supplied to the market directly, or to retail electricity providers.
Hiromitsu Miyamoto, Country Manager of Enel X Japan, said, “From government-funded trial projects to commercialization, Enel X Japan has played a central role as a VPP and demand response aggregator in the local market since 2013. We have expanded our market presence from the 1-dash reserve program, and won over 1GW of demand response in the upcoming Capacity Market in 2024. The recent Specified Wholesale Supplier License acquisition solidifies our legal position under the Electricity Business Act. Through further expansion we will continue to support Japan’s energy transition, digitalization and green transformation from the demand-side, and will contribute to the country’s realization of a decarbonized, carbon-neutral society and stable supply.”
“Since power supply and demand shortages can occur due to a variety of factors, we will continue to contribute to alleviating power supply and demand shortages, not only through Economic DR but through various grid services, thereby fulfilling our social responsibility as the world's largest VPP and demand response service provider,” Mr. Miyamoto added.
VPPs and demand response programs stabilize the power grid by offering load from the demand side when electricity supply and demand peak on extremely hot or extremely cold days. Participating businesses can receive payments by temporarily curbing demand in response to demand response requests.
About the Capacity Market
The Capacity Market is an electricity market for trading "future supply capacity (kW)" modelled after the capacity markets of PJM in the U.S. and the U.K., and will be launched in Japan in FY2024. The main auction was held four years ago in FY2020. Enel X Japan won the bid for the largest capacity as an independent aggregator as the triggering command power supply. The reward for winning the auction will be returned to the company’s customers.