JERA to Participate in the ReBaaS Council2021/12/27

JERA Co., Inc. (“JERA”), having decided to participate in the Battery Recycling and Reuse Council in Kobe/Kansai Area (the “ReBaaS Council*¹”), has today established the council in partnership with firms*² engaged in the utilization of storage batteries.

At the invitation of Kobe City, the ReBaaS Council was founded to contribute to the creation of new demand for and industrialization of storage batteries that are in concord with the SDGs and carbon neutrality.

To this end, the council will build a platform for battery resource recycling that aims to evaluate storage battery grid interconnection, to promote demonstration projects related to the application of recycling technologies to storage batteries, and to develop advanced energy management that combines storage batteries with carbon-free power sources and hydrogen fuel cells.

JERA, together with Toyota Motor Corporation (“Toyota”), will serve as council lead, driving various demonstration projects and making policy proposals to the national and local governments.

Since 2018, JERA has been working on projects to demonstrate the reuse and recycling of electric vehicles batteries as a means of expanding the adoption of renewable energy, rationalizing thermal power plant operation, and making more effective use of resources.

With respect to reuse, JERA is working with Toyota to build a large-capacity energy storage system. Previous demonstrations have found that both nickel-metal hydride batteries and lithium-ion batteries recovered from electric vehicles could be used as power batteries. This fiscal year, a demonstration project using a combination of both types of battery is being conducted in Kobe City. A demonstration that connects the constructed battery storage system to an actual power grid is scheduled for next fiscal year.

With respect to recycling, JERA is working to develop a recycling process for electric vehicle batteries. As a result of its efforts to date, JERA has developed a patent-pending non-roasting recycling technology that does not rely on conventional roasting methods. From next fiscal year, JERA plans to use this technology to verify the practical application of a recycling process with low CO₂ emissions and a high resource recycling rate.

JERA will utilize the ReBaaS Council platform to promote these battery reuse and recycling demonstration projects.

JERA will continue to work not only with the energy industry but also with leading companies in Japan and overseas to develop technologies such as battery storage systems and services that contribute to optimal energy utilization as it works proactively to achieve a decarbonized and resource-recycling society.

*¹The acronym ReBaaS represents the aim of promoting “batteries as a service” (BaaS) centered on the five "Re" (rebirth, resilience, revenue, relation, and recovery).

*²Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Co., Ltd., Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd., Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc., Kobe City, Kobelco Research Institute, Inc., National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, GS Yuasa Corporation, The New Industry Research Organization, Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited, Electrical Safety and Environment Research Institute, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo, Toyota Motor Corporation (Lead), Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc., Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Development Bank of Japan Inc., Japan Economic Research Institute, Inc. (Secretariat), The Hyogo Industrial Association, Primearth EV Energy Co., Ltd., Prime Planet Energy & Solutions, Inc., Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Meiwa Sangyo Co., Ltd., Lithium Energy Japan, JERA Co., Inc. (Lead), NTT Anode Energy Corporation