Toyota City, Japan, Jul 11, 2013 (JCN Newswire via COMTEX) -- Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announces that it will begin consideration of a system for the sharing and effective utilization of waste heat and excess electricity produced by TMC plant and other medium and small-sized plants in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture. TMC will formulate a master plan and conduct feasibility studies starting this month, with the goal of starting verification testing in the year ending March 31, 2014.
Support is being provided by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and is one facet of the Toyota City Low-carbon Society Verification Project (Toyota City Project) that is a part of the Next-Generation Energy and Social System Demonstration project that METI began promoting in April 2010. The verification project will be conducted in cooperation with regional energy companies under close scrutiny from industry, government and academic entities.
An overview of the heat and power sharing system TMC is considering follows:
- Optimization of heat and electricity use
Heat and electric power sharing, and supply and demand optimization within industrial parks using a Factory Energy Management System (FEMS) to manage waste heat recovery(1), heat storage(2) and heat transport(3)
- Curbing the electricity usage during peak times
Constructing an electric power system, simultaneously using heat storage and thermoelectric conversion systems(4), inside plants and industrial parks to curb the use of electricity during peak times, and also to reduce overall energy consumption and CO2 emissions
- Highly economical energy-supply system utilizing existing distribution infrastructure
Compact transport, sharing and reuse of heat through use of technologies such as chemical-heat storage(5) with high heat storage density
- Establishment of a smart energy system business model that ensures economic performance
More efficient energy use through the optimal control of waste-heat sharing; establishing a business model for economical smart energy systems
- Realizing a low-carbon society by linking EDMS and FEMS
Improving the energy self-reliance ratio for the entire region by linking Energy Data Management Systems (EDMS), which adjust electricity supply and demand balance by interconnecting regional and public transportation information, with individual FEMS
TMC has long made efforts to improve energy management at plants through the implementation of energy-conserving production systems. These efforts include the introduction of Toyota Total Demand Management (TTDM), a system for effectively managing supply and demand for private power generation as well as production processes at plants.
The Home Energy Management System (HEMS), a proprietarily developed energy management system, EDMS and other systems are being provided for activities to verify the optimization of home energy use in the Toyota City Project. Verification testing is underway as TMC aims to create the next-generation systems needed for a low-carbon society.
Also, the F-Grid Ohira, Miyagi Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) was established in February this year as one facet of varied efforts to enrich the lives of communities. TMC thereafter began operating a "smart community" project focused on the F-Grid project in the Second North Sendai Central Industrial Area in Ohira Village, Miyagi Prefecture.
TMC will continue to work to optimize regional energy management, and to reduce carbon emissions via the construction of