Slovenia became independent from Yugoslavia in June 1991 and later joined the European Union (EU) in 2004. Recently, Slovenia set an energy policy goal to improve energy efficiency by 20% by making renewable energy 25% of final energy consumption by 2020, and it ratified the Paris Agreement, the new international framework for global warming countermeasures that was entered into force on November 4 of this year. As renewable energy is therefore expected to be introduced on a large scale in Slovenia, more advanced management technology for smart grid distribution systems is required.

Slovenia’s manufacturing industry is thriving and the growth rate and standard of living have been high in the region after joining the EU. Therefore, power demand is increasing in the country. However, facilities owned by distribution companies are deteriorating and investment costs for upgrades are expected to increase. Against this backdrop, NEDO has cooperated with Slovenia’s Ministry of Economic Development and Technology and Ministry of Infrastructure, which face these challenges that are said to be a microcosm for EU countries, to implement a smart grid and smart community demonstration action. On November 25, NEDO concluded a memorandum of cooperation (MOC) and minutes of meeting (MOM) which officially started the demonstration action.

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  Figure 1: Action overview

In Europe, the need for smart grid distribution systems is increasing rapidly with greater use of photovoltaic (PV) power generation. Demonstrations of Japan’s power distribution technology in Europe have shown to be very important in raising the status of Japanese smart grid technology.

NEDO agreed on a joint demonstration action with the Slovenian state-owned electric transmission company ELES, d.o.o., and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU). NEDO selected Hitachi, Ltd. as its entrusted party for the action, and chose Mizuho Bank, Ltd. to support Hitachi in developing a business plan. The demonstration action will be implemented for three years until October 2019, and aims to demonstrate appropriate voltage maintenance and reduced power outage time. Furthermore, it aims to establish a business model which targets small- to medium-sized distribution companies in verifying and utilizing functions that will resolve issues in Slovenia and other EU countries with similar problems by building a DMS^*. It will also take advantage of a cost-efficient cloud-based service for the distribution systems of the two electric distribution companies in Slovenia.

• (1) Duration
  Three years (until October 2019)
• (2) Participants and action organization
  NEDO signed MOC with the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology in Slovenia
  NEDO signed MOM with the Ministry of Infrastructure in Slovenia
  NEDO signed MOU with ELES, d.o.o., Slovenia’s state-owned electric transmission company
  ELES, d.o.o. signed ID with Hitachi, Ltd.
• (3) Total budget
  Approximately 1.5 billion yen (NEDO’s share)

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  Figure 2: Action organization

On November 25, 2016, in the capital city of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Mr. Kazuo Furukawa, Chairman of NEDO, and Mr. Aleš Cantarutti, State Secretary, Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, signed the MOC. Chairman Furukawa also signed the MOM with Mr. Klemen Potisek, State Secretary, Ministry of Infrastructure, in order to promote the demonstration action by establishing a cooperative partnership. The MOC and MOM were signed in the presence of His Excellency Dr. Miro Cerar, Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, and His Excellency Mr. Keiji Fukuda, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Republic of Slovenia. In addition, NEDO and ELES, d.o.o. signed the MOU, and ELES, d.o.o. and Hitachi, Ltd. signed an implementation document (ID).

NEDO Smart Community Department
Contact Persons: Asano, Hamada, Hara　Tel: +81-44-520-5274­