Supported Hawaii Remote Island Smart Grid verification test

Project Summary

In the process of Japan / USA joint project for Smart Grid verification test, we, 1) showed why Hawaii is an ideal location for Japan / USA joint verification test , 2) supported solidifying the verification test.

Japan / US alliance in Smart Grid
Japan’s then-Prime Minister Hatayama declared in September 2009 that Japan aims to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 25% from the 1990 level by 2020. USA then-President Obama announced their decision stating that the government would fund 4.5 billion JP for Smart Grid initiatives amid faster communication network and advancing IT control technologies. When then-Prime Minister Hatayama and then-President Obama met in November 2009, they confirmed their alliance in the area of energy R&D, and agreed to address together carbon emission reduction. After sharing the achievements of micro grid verification test in Hawaii and Okinawa respectively, Japan and USA reached to an agreement to jointly engage in the Smart Grid verification project.

Showed why Hawaii is an ideal location for Japan / US joint verification test , and supported solidifying the verification test.
In solidifying this two-county joint initiative, we organized the information showing why this test should be conducted in Hawaii, and also showed the significance regarding why Japan / USA should jointly tackle this. This was then submitted to the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI).
First, we suggested that Hawaii is an epitome of the world environment. This suggestion was made given that Hawaii enjoys 11 out of 13 world’s climate belts from tropical environment to 4,000 meter high alpine range and it has diversified residential situations covering from city environment such as in Oahu island to ranch environment. Also with their natural preservation being very advanced, and with their vast type of living endemic, we concluded that Hawaii is a ideal place for the test.

We also added that with Japan’s proud control technologies, and with USA’s robust information communication technologies, if they share such technologies and complement one another, Hawaii’s goal which is to minimize our dependency on fossil fuel could be achieved. In addition, deploying this Smart Grid model to large cities both in Japan and USA as well as other countries by showcasing this verification in Hawaii we could contribute to the carbon emission reduction on global level.
Also based on the aforementioned suggestion, and with the aim to further expand renewable energy in Maui, we supported the verification test for transmission and distribution engineering control using EV as well.