Hitachi, Ltd. (hereafter “Hitachi”), Brookfield Japan Kabushiki Kaisha (the Japanese subsidiary of global investment firm Brookfield, hereafter “Brookfield”), and Hartree Partners Singapore Pte. Limited (hereafter “Hartree”), known for its strength in commodity trading, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on July 17 to jointly explore the development of digital infrastructure in Japan.
Image of environmentally-friendly digital infrastructure
Under this MoU, the three companies will jointly explore funding schemes to meet capital needs for the development of grid-scale storage batteries to support grid stabilization and large-scale digital infrastructure that require substantial amounts of electricity in Japan.
In this consideration, they will combine Hitachi’s comprehensive engineering capabilities in designing, building, and operating infrastructure in the energy and digital sectors, as well as the expertise of Lumada*1 in accelerating digital innovation, Brookfield Group’s extensive experience investing in and operating large-scale infrastructure globally such as data centers and other digital infrastructure assets, and Hartree’s expertise in renewable project development and commodities trading in the energy sector including electricity, LNG and carbon.
Moving forward, by building an ecosystem with a wide range of partners utilizing this funding scheme, they aim to promote the use of decarbonization technologies and digital technologies, and realize environmentally-friendly digital infrastructure that enables sustainable economic growth.
*1 Lumada refers to Hitachi’s advanced digital solutions, services, and technologies for turning data into insights to drive digital innovation.
Background
To achieve a decarbonized society, mechanisms to stabilize electricity supply and demand in response to fluctuations in renewable energy output are essential. Additionally, with the rapid proliferation of generative AI and cloud services in recent years, the global demand for electricity in data centers and semiconductor factories has been increasing*2, raising concerns about the tight supply and demand of electricity. From these perspectives, in addition to stabilizing the power infrastructure, it is crucial issue to sustainably supply green and stable electricity to large-scale power consumers such as data centers. As a solution, amidst the increasing demand for grid and industrial storage batteries and on-site power sources, the development of digital infrastructure utilizing advanced technologies requires substantial initial investment and strategic financing, necessitating a supporting funding scheme.
*2
