No. 347: Introducing smart grids to 30 buildings in the business district of Tokyo (November 10, 2011)

Mitsubishi Estate will introduce smart grids, the next-generation power grid, to about 30 office buildings it owns in the business district of Tokyo. The company will install a system that optimizes energy supply and demand using IT technology for effective power utilization together with cogeneration equipment to deconcentrate the supply sources of energy. It will start the feasibility study with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government shortly. Several office buildings will get the system installed for experiment in 2012. Beginning in 2013, the system will be installed in the buildings one after another.

The smart meters installed in these 30 buildings will be networked for 24-hour monitoring of power demand of the tenants. Huge solar panels will be set up in the rooftop of the buildings, and a system to use exhaust heat from sewage will also be employed. The above measures will help the consumption of renewable energy increase. Wind and photovoltaic generation systems have only 10% share at present. There are worries about power shortage among tenants after the Fukushima disaster, and such tenants motivated Mitsuishi Estate.