AMSTERDAM: he Japanese government aims to help spread energy-saving technologies abroad through such means as subsidies and technological support for domestic businesses.
The industry ministry is working with the likes of Toshiba, Hitachi and NEC in hopes of promoting exports of technologies for smart cities and electric vehicles to Europe and Africa. Japanese development of energy-saving technologies has accelerated since the March 2011 earthquake disaster.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will assist through the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, or NEDO. It will provide subsidies for field testing, offer help on the technology front, and support negotiations with foreign governments and municipalities.
NEDO has helped Toshiba try out sustainable-city technologies in France. Toshiba developed a system to display residential power and gas usage. Negotiations with municipalities are underway toward running tests in such countries as Italy and the Netherlands starting next fiscal year.
NEDO and Hitachi are field-testing renewables-powered rapid chargers for electric vehicles in Hawaii through the end of the fiscal year. Hitachi aims to try out the technology next on islands in the Mediterranean.
And with NEDO’s assistance, NEC has installed an energy storage system in India as a backup power source for cellphone base stations. The company is eyeing Africa, where electricity outages are common, as the next location.
