Shikoku Electric Power, Imabari Shipbuilding, and PowerX partnered to develop and operate a 2MW/4.9MWh battery storage system at the shipbuilder’s Saijo Shipyard Higashi-Hiuchi Factory in Ehime Prefecture for both peak shaving and merchant use, the companies announced on September 1, 2025. They target April 2026 COD for the project.
According to the statement, the BESS will be built and maintained by Shikoku EPCO and its group companies. It will be aggregated by the utility’s wholly-owned subsidiary Yonden Demand-Side Storage, which plans to participate with the asset in the wholesale, balancing, and capacity markets, while lowering Imabari Shipbuilding’s power bill by reducing peak demand. PowerX will supply two Mega Power 2700A units for the project.
The utility and its subsidiaries Yonden Demand-Side Storage and Yonden Energy Service were awarded an approximately 108 million yen subsidy for the project under METI’s FY2024 supplementary budget program for the support of commercial and industrial BESS installation.
PowerX has supplied systems to numerous grid-scale BESS projects, as well as power consumer-owned facilities with on-site solar generation. The Ehime, however, marks the first time for the company to supply its hardware for a dual-purpose project. As such, in addition to manufacturing the units, it will also develop the required control logic.
Yonden Demand-Side Storage joined the Electric Power Reserve Exchange (EPRX), which operates Japan’s balancing market, in July 2025.
