Moixa has signed a partnership with Itochu Corporation to market Moixa’s GridShare platform in Japan,
The agreement enables Moixa to launch its GridShare battery management platform into the rapidly growing Japanese battery market. The companies forecast that the number of energy storage systems in Japan will grow from 125,000 in 2016 to over 500,000 in 2020.
Itochu will have sold over 6,000 units of “Smart Star” home battery systems through its distribution network in Japan by the end of March 2018 and will install GridShare as standard on products by the summer of 2018. The technology uses artificial intelligence to optimise the performance of their battery based on their patterns of behaviour, the weather conditions and market prices.
Koji Hasegawa, general manager of the industrial chemicals department at Itochu, said: “Moixa has pioneered battery management, and we are proud to be investing and working together to target the rapidly growing energy storage market in Japan. Moixa’s GridShare will help our customers get more value for their home batteries and will offer solutions to help our partners manage Japan’s low-carbon transition.”
Simon Daniel, chief executive of Moixa, said: “Itochu is a major player in the global battery market and this partnership provides a real opportunity for us to expand our business in Japan and provide GridShare technology to many global battery companies. GridShare optimises the performance of home batteries by learning patterns of household energy use and solar generation, and adjusting to local weather and energy price signals. It can also help customers make more money by using their spare battery capacity to provide services that help utilities and electricity networks balance supply and demand.”
Itochu will also help fund Moixa’s international expansion by investing £5m. The company said it was planning trials in the US and mainland Europe this year.
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