Mitsubishi Electric today has begun full-scale tests of smart grid and related smart-community technologies at the company’s production sites in Japan. The aim of the project is to develop and test products including commercial systems, equipment and solutions for annual sales worth 1.3 trillion yen (about 17 billion USD) by March 2016. Since May 2010, Mitsubishi Electric had been developing smart-grid infrastructure worth about 7 billion yen, including systems for supply and demand management, next-generation distribution management, advanced metering and energy management.
Through the project, Mitsubishi Electric intends to contribute to sustainable low-carbon societies establishing an economic and highly-reliable power grid. At the same time, the company aims to provide society with a system that enables consumers to visualize and control electricity consumption for optimized energy use. The project also focuses on the development of robust energy infrastructure that offers continuity in emergency situations, in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake.