Japan's electric power shortage smart meter business opportunities

Given that Japan’s electricity supply is facing a shortage, it may take several months to resolve it based on a few years, and Japan’s recovery is likely to be affected. At present, if the power supply problem is solved, it is the government’s top priority. Japan’s “electricity shortage” may bring unlimited business opportunities to smart meter companies.

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry estimated that data from the five power companies in the Northeast, Kansai, Hokuriku, Shikoku, and Kyushu will be expected to reach a gap between December and February of this year if nuclear power plants undergoing regular maintenance cannot be re-operated. 5.7 million kilowatts.

If thermal power is used instead of nuclear power to make up for the electricity production capacity, it will undoubtedly increase the electricity bill and increase the electricity price. This is a big burden for the government and Japanese residents, especially when the domestic economy is overcast.

At present, the government is discussing the need to limit the use of electricity, which is understandable. Due to the fact that some of the nuclear power plants that were undergoing regular overhaul before the earthquake were in a wait-and-see state after the earthquake and were not restarted, another Fukushima nuclear power plant affected by the earthquake was severely damaged, causing the power supply capacity of the Japanese power company to decline, resulting in a power gap. There will be 18% of power shortages at the end of next month.

Ways to improve the balance between supply and demand include increasing non-peak load pricing when demand decreases, staggering the use of electricity, and some smart meters with displays that can reduce power usage by up to 20%. Smart meters add Pricing incentives can save energy more.

Some countries have already led the way in smart meters. For example, New Zealand plans to increase the proportion of smart meters from around 33% in 2010 to 80% by the end of 2013. South Korea plans to increase this ratio from 14% last year to 100% in the next decade.

Japan currently only initiates some pilot projects for smart meters, and it has not given special price differences. Only less than 5% of TEPCO users, including ordinary residents and small businesses, use such smart meters with multi-level electricity prices and cheaper electricity prices at night. Most of the rest use electricity meters that use the same electricity price whenever they are used.

In the long run, Japan needs to separate the power distribution and power generation departments of power generation companies in order to increase competition and integrate renewable energy such as solar energy into the power grid. At the same time, Japan also needs to increase the construction of smart grids to improve the energy efficiency of power distribution and power generation. South Korea expects that its smart grid may reduce its electricity demand by 10%.

In addition, Japan needs to increase its ability to transmit electricity from the west to the east. The frequencies in these two regions are different. If the power is transmitted in an emergency, it is necessary to connect the converter. Japan has a lot of hardware conditions to solve the power shortage problem, there are many precedents can learn from, smart meters may be one of the way out, worth the Japanese government's attention.

Japan's smart meter market is almost at a blank stage, and every smart meter company wants to get a piece of it and it has to move in a timely manner.