October 25, 2023

Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. (Head office: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; President: Shinji Shimomura) in partnership with Hiroshima Gas Co., Ltd. (Head office: Hiroshima City; President and CEO: Kensuke Matsufuji) has held a safety prayer and groundbreaking ceremony on October 19, 2023 for the LAES commercial demonstration plant to be constructed at Hiroshima Gas’ Hatsukaichi Plant in preparation for the start of operations in 2025.

We also signed an “aggregator contract *2” with Koei Energy Co,. Ltd., a group company of ID&E Holdings (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Toru Takaobushi) to bid in the FY2027 capacity market auction *1 for the commercial demonstration plant to be a power source for trading on the energy market after the start of operations.

Through focus on energy storage market foreseen in the future, and by providing energy storage solutions contributing to the effective use of resources and reduced environmental impact of energy, SHI will contribute to stable supply of clean electricity and the realization of a decarbonized society.

●What is LAES?
LAES (Liquid Air Energy Storage) is technology pioneered by Highview Enterprises Limited of the United Kingdom, in which we invested in February 2020 with the aim of acquiring energy storage technology. Charging efficiency can be improved by effectively utilizing the cold energy of LNG. In Japan, in addition to individual contracts with power transmission and distribution companies, we will utilize LAES by operating it in the wholesale power market, the supply-demand adjustment market, and also in the power market in the capacity market.

(*1) The market is to enable a stable supply of electricity in the future and to secure a supply capacity (kW) for the whole of Japan in four years. Bids for FY2027 supply will take place in FY2023.

(*2) In regards to the capacity of the power generation plant installed by our company, Koei Energy will bid in the capacity market auction as an aggregator, and the income earned will be shared between the two companies.

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Jan. 18, 2023 Joint Implementation of LAES Commercial Demonstration with Hiroshima Gas Co., Ltd
Feb. 25, 2020 Investment to Highview Enterprises Limited, U.K.