Fujitsu, Aizuwakamatsu City and Tohoku Electric Power Begin Planning Smart Community Project in Aizuwakamatsu Region

Tokyo, April 17, 2012

Fujitsu, Aizuwakamatsu City and Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. today announced that they will begin formulating a master project plan for bringing about a smart community in the Aizuwakamatsu region of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.

The new project was jointly proposed by the three organizations as the "Aizuwakamatsu Area Smart Community Deployment Project," which was selected as part of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan's "FY 2011 Smart Community Promotion Initiative"⁽¹⁾. As such, the project will be conducted with the support of the New Energy Promotion Council. Going forward, the three organizations will consider the specific details of the project in anticipation of submitting a master project plan in September 2012.

The three organizations are pursuing the project in accordance with the "Plan for Revitalization in Fukushima Prefecture (First Edition)"⁽²⁾, which is being carried out in Fukushima Prefecture, and the "Reconstruction Efforts Aimed at Local Community Revitalization"⁽³⁾ initiative in Aizuwakamatsu City. The aim is to bring about an environmentally friendly, low-carbon society and generate new businesses by building a smart community originating in Aizuwakamatsu City, which possesses a wealth of renewable energy resources. At the same time, the organizations will work to promote the horizontal development of the initiative from Aizuwakamatsu City to the entire Prefecture, while striving to contribute to its overall reconstruction.

Background

Between October 2011 and March 2012, Fujitsu, in collaboration with Aizuwakamatsu City and Tohoku Electric Power, conducted a feasibility study for building a smart community in the Aizuwakamatsu region. The study was selected as part of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan's "FY 2011 Project to Support the Spread of Smart Communities."

The feasibility study confirmed that the Aizuwakamatsu region has the potential to produce more than 150,000 kilowatts of renewable energy from sources such as solar power, wind power and woody biomass power. In addition, the study facilitated an exploration of the efficient application of renewable energy, which subsequently led to Fujitsu, Aizuwakamatsu City and Tohoku Electric Power jointly proposing the "Aizuwakamatsu Area Smart Community Deployment Project."

Project Overview

Taking into consideration the above feasibility study results, Fujitsu, Aizuwakamatsu City and Tohoku Electric Power will develop a specific blueprint to implement the "Plan for Revitalization in Fukushima Prefecture (First Edition)." The plan will include (1) urban planning employing distributed biomass power generation-based cogeneration; (2) promoting the deployment of solar power generation/storage cell technology in tandem with local disaster-prevention measures; and (3) building an energy control center⁽⁴⁾.

1. Region: Aizuwakamatsu City, Fukushima Prefecture

2. Time period: From April 2012 to the end of September 2012

3. Role of each participating organization:
Fujitsu Limited: Project manager
Aizuwakamatsu City: Evaluation of disaster prevention and other project measures*
(*) Local self-reliant energy supply model
    Research center for renewable energy, coordination with relevant businesses, etc.
Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc.: Examining/evaluating energy control center business model and operation methods