Listed firm Aboitiz Power Corporation has inked memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Japanese companies Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. and IKS Co. Ltd. (IKS) for targeted ‘preliminary cooperation’ on technology deployments of energy storage systems as well as other technology solutions that will improve the capacity generation of renewable energy (RE) facilities as well as to underpin the ancillary services needs of a power system to reinforce supply reliability.
Another firm which is part of the deal is Silicon Valley-headquartered Amber Kinetics, which has its manufacturing base of kinetic energy storage system (KESS) in the Philippines; wherein the local subsidiary is chaired by Edgar Chua, a renowned business figure in the country.
Aboitiz Power announced that the MOU was sealed on February 10 this year – coinciding with the Japan state visit of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr; and it was signed by Aboitiz Power Chairman Sabin Aboitiz; Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. Senior Managing Executive Officer and President of Energy Solution and Marine Engineering Tatsuya Watanabe; IKS Co. Ltd. (IKS) President Takashi Imai, and Chua of Amber Kinetics.
Aboitiz Power admitted that there are no specific projects fleshed out yet in the MOU; and there no timelines provided also on any targeted actionable items.
On broad strokes, the MOU generally stated that “the parties will leverage their respective new-generation technologies and expertise to optimize renewable energy development in the Philippines while contributing to energy cost savings and grid stability.”
The deal also calls for “further exploration and expansion beyond the Philippines to ASEAN, Japan, and Australia,” but getting the parties’ hand into the targeted investments as well as aspired cost savings remained to be the missing pieces of the partnership puzzle.
Aboitiz primarily noted that “with this consortium, the Philippines and Japan can make a significant impact on our transition towards a more sustainable future. Our partnerships represent a powerful alliance that will drive technological innovation and harness the power of renewable energy to create a brighter future for generations to come.”
Kawasaki Heavy Industries, in particular, leverages on its offer of energy solutions that could be provided through the supply chain of project developments – that is from electricity generation to energy management, hydrogen innovation; as well as energy storage primarily in the era of massive-scale renewable energy (RE) investments – including its headway on the rollout of virtual synchronous generator (VSG) technology for power generators.
As explained, the VSG technology will “mimic the operation characteristics of traditional synchronous generators,” and that shall be aided by short-term energy storage together with a power inverter and appropriate control mechanism to achieve more stabilized grid frequency.
Watanabe narrated that their VSG technology had been experimented on roughly 10 years ago; and to-date, that is being deployed as a technology coupling for RE to stabilize RE generation.
“Kawasaki started up the VSG project in expectation of the recent energy trend. Now, we must be faced with a large amount of renewable energy penetration to a power system and a sharp increase in fossil fuel prices,” he stressed.
Watanabe added “the virtual synchronous method will be a breakthrough solution to the problem,” hence, this is a collaborative venture they are targeting to pursue with Amber Kinetics, IKS and Aboitiz Group, primarily “to deliver advanced technologies that would help the Philippines transition to more renewable energy.”
Additionally, Imai indicated that their company is keen on having “contribution to stabilize the energy supply in the Philippines with IKS’s technology joining this partnership.” ###