Fujitsu and Fuji Electric to Explore Smart Grid Partnership

Fujitsu Limited, Fuji Electric Holdings Co., Ltd. and its subsidiary Fuji Electric Systems Co., Ltd. today announced they have signed a memorandum of understanding to begin exploring a business partnership to jointly develop the smart grid business. The partnership would be aimed at merging the companies’ strengths to accelerate the development of smart grid-related solutions and rapidly establish a competitive foothold in Japan and other markets around the world.

1. Objectives

The Fujitsu Group is a global leader in information and communications systems, working with its customers to support their success. Fujitsu offers a range of ICT products and value-added services, including cloud computing-based solutions, to markets worldwide. The Fuji Electric Group is a global leader in electric distribution and control technologies, systems, and components. By merging these capabilities, Fujitsu and Fuji Electric would aim to foster the smart grid solutions market. In addition, the companies would aim to accelerate the use of reusable energies and improve energy efficiency in order to contribute to the creation of a prosperous, low-carbon society.

Under the MOU, Fujitsu and Fuji Electric will consider how a partnership could be used for joint smart grid pilot projects and tracking efforts to create international standards, as well as how the companies could work together to jointly create technologies that become de facto standards in the market.

2. Business Opportunities to Be Explored under MOU

Fujitsu and Fuji Electric will be exploring the feasibility of projects in the following three major areas, with a focus on joint pilot projects, the development and sale of grid solutions, international standardization, and research and development.

1. Infrastructure systems for the public sector and electric power companies
2. Systems for private-sector industrial companies in the manufacturing, distribution, and other industries
3. Joint R&D on advanced fundamental technologies

3. Strengths of Fujitsu and Fuji Electric

Fujitsu

Fujitsu is the largest ICT company in Japan and one of the leading global ICT companies. Fujitsu develops and sells facilities management, maintenance, and planning systems to energy companies, along with back-office systems to support customer management, accounting, and other administrative functions. In telecommunications systems, Fujitsu maintains the leading share of the Japanese market for networking systems used to support stable electric energy distribution.

Fujitsu continues to invest heavily in the development of smart networks, data security, and other cutting-edge areas of the ICT market, in addition to ICT services, like cloud computing, and new environmental solutions. These and other capabilities will be leveraged in developing a global smart grid business.

Fuji Electric

Fuji Electric has a strong global presence in the social and industrial infrastructure markets, with particularly strong capabilities in the electric power plant equipment, systems, and solutions, as well as power system components business. Fuji Electric also develops power semiconductors needed to improve energy efficiency in industrial equipment, consumer electronics, and car electronics, along with magnetic disks for personal computers, and vending machines.

Under a new Medium-term Management Plan for FY2009-FY2011 announced in February 2010, Fuji Electric will focus its capabilities on the strategic areas of “energy and the environment.” The plan includes a target of 50 billion yen in sales of grid-related solutions in FY2011.