The announcement was made during the Ireland Innovation Seminar hosted at the Embassy of Ireland in Tokyo, where GridBeyond presented alongside PORT Inc. Image courtesy GridBeyond
Dublin-headquartered smart energy company GridBeyond has commenced energy trading in Japan using a front-of-the-meter (FTM) battery asset.
This asset marks GridBeyond’s first active trading project in Japan and serves as a launchpad, says GridBeyond in a release, for a broader portfolio of battery projects scheduled to go live between 2025 and 2028.
Ahead of the announcement, PORT, GridBeyond’s local partner on the project, successfully brought online a 2MW/8MWh grid-scale battery located in the Gunma Prefecture.
Commenting on the project launch, Ireland’s minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke TD, said: “GridBeyond is one of our key companies, a leading example of an Irish advanced technology and sustainable business.”
Burke called Japan a critical growth market for the Irish economy, with GridBeyond’s initiative a “testament to the global value of Irish technology, and we are extremely proud of this work. I look forward to seeing both companies achieve further success in contributing to Japan’s decarbonisation and energy optimisation.”
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PORT’s president and CEO Hirofumi Kasuga said: “This first trading milestone not only strengthens our business foundation but also marks a significant step toward large-scale battery deployment in Japan.
“Our collaboration with GridBeyond goes beyond a technical partnership—I believe it opens up new potential for the energy market as a whole. Together, we aim to expand installations and usage of energy storage systems, contributing to a more sustainable energy infrastructure.”
Atsushi Ito, country manager at GridBeyond GK, their Japan entity, added: “In addition to grid battery operations, we are rolling out strategies that support flexibility on both the supply and demand sides, such as CHP optimisation, demand response using data centres, and AI-powered energy asset management.”
PORT, whose mission is ‘Transforming social debt into future opportunities,’ announced its entry into the FTM battery power plant sector in March.
This move aligns with Japan’s 2050 carbon neutrality goal and the country’s accelerating adoption of renewable energy. Since then, PORT has been working closely with GridBeyond to optimise battery operations.
According to Ito, by using their overseas expertise and adapting to the Japanese market and regulations, the company is aiming to “earn the trust of even more customers.”
