Pictured above: Members of the Chubu Electric Power team with the Relectrify BMS+Inverter technology ReVolve®

The announcement was featured in Clean Technica.

Relectrify announce the commissioning of the first product featuring Relectrify BMS+Inverter technology (ReVolve®) with Chubu Electric Power (Chubu) in Japan. The ReVolve® is the first unit containing Relectrify’s BMS+Inverter technology to be operational in Japan. The product was assembled and commissioned locally by Aichi Electric Co., Ltd. (Aichi), an affiliated company of Chubu from components supplied by Relectrify in Australia.

The ReVolve® battery system combines Relectrify’s BMS+Inverter technology with nine second-life electric vehicle batteries to store over 120kWh of energy. Relectrify’s BMS+Inverter technology is cell-level control software incorporated with unique inverter hardware. This technology revolutionizes battery storage, increasing the battery lifetime by as much as a third, and reducing power electronic costs by up to 30 percent compared to existing conventional battery offerings. Relectrify’s technology has been validated by a number of technical projects and pilots, including American Electric Power, Counties Energy and IBM Research.

“We’re looking forward to collaborating with Relectrify and using their transformative BMS+Inverter technology,” said Chubu Business Development Division General Manager Kazuaki Ishikawa. “Developing a large-scale storage battery system that is safer, less expensive, reusable, and has a longer life than conventional battery offerings is essential for achieving carbon neutrality, and we hope that this pilot will help us discover that possibility .”

Chubu is Japan’s third largest electric utilities provider in terms of electric energy sold. As part of the company’s Zero Emissions Challenge 2050, an initiative aimed to attain net zero CO2 emissions for the entire business, Chubu plans to maximize and combine their solutions expertise with innovative technologies, like Relectrify’s.

“With the support from Relectrify, we were successfully able to complete the assembly work. We are very excited about this demonstration test,” said Aichi System Development Center Deputy General Manager Tasuku Kuwahara. “Chubu and Aichi are energized by the progress to date and are looking forward to the trial and test period.”

Chubu and Relectrify are seriously considering to jointly trial and test the performance of the ReVolve®, with a view to incorporate more value-adding features to the ReVolve®. The two companies  have started a discussion to advance their collaboration using Relectrify’s BMS+Inverter technology with the development of a range of products using new cells.

“The commissioning of the first system in Japan using Relectrify’s cell-level control is the proof needed to show how Relectrify’s technology can offer value to our partners like Chubu,” said Relectrify VP of Partnerships Juergen Barth. “We know that our technology will help our partners expand their business and better tackle the challenges they face due to decarbonization of their systems.”

Relectrify supplies its world-first BMS+Inverter technology to companies in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and now Japan for simple integration into their existing systems, or works to co-develop products using proprietary cell-level control architecture.

The ReVolve®, a 36kVA / 120kWh battery system powered by Relectrify BMS+Inverter technology

About Relectrify

Relectrify is a developer of advanced battery control solutions. Founded in Melbourne, Australia in 2015, Relectrify’s technologies, based on a cell-level control architecture, demonstrably increase the lifetime and decrease the cost of battery storage systems in homes, industry, the power grid, and beyond. To learn more, including for prospective collaborators, visit relectrify.com

About Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc.

CHUBU is one of the largest energy companies in Japan, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE:9502). CHUBU Group has more than seven decades history consisting of energy value chain which includes power generation, power transmission/distribution and energy retail business. Aiming for a decarbonized energy company, CHUBU is expanding its business territory on a global basis with the optimal business portfolio, which consists of four domains of (i) “green” business centered on renewable energy, (ii) “blue” business in relation to de-carbonization, (iii) “retail, power transmission and distribution, and new services” and (iv) “new technologies”. CHUBU is promoting decarbonizing business to create a synergy between domestic business in Japan and global business to enhance its corporate value. For more details, please visit  https://www.chuden.co.jp/english/

About Aichi Electric Co., Ltd.

AICHI is an electrical equipment manufacturer listed on the Nagoya Stock Exchange(NSE:6623), and since its establishment in 1942, it has been aiming for sustainable growth by creating future-oriented products and services based on its reliable technologies. In the electric power equipment business, Aichi design, manufacture, and sell electric power equipment such as transformers, protection and control devices, and renewable energy-related equipment, as well as industrial equipment such as powder mixers and hot water boilers, and design and construct power receiving and transforming plants in Japan and overseas. In the rotating machinery business, Aichi provide society with products that play an active role in everyday life, such as hermetic motors for air conditioning compressors and other small motors, printed circuit boards, actuators for electric beds, and shutter operators. For more details, please visit https://www.aichidenki.jp/english/