Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 57 No. 1 (March 2020)
1QoEnTM Approach – A Quantitative Index that Can
Suggest the Direction toward High-quality Energy
Infrastructure Based on the Three Aspects of Society,
Economy and the Environment

TOSHIHIDE NOGUCHI*1 TADASHI SUZUKI*1
MASAHARU WATABE*2

In line with accelerating international initiatives for climate change such as the reduction ofgreenhouse gas emissions and the realization of sustainable development, we are working on thedevelopment of an index called QoEnTM as a quantitative index of how high-quality energy
infrastructure should be defined. Our goal is to propose to urban development planners andinvestors, from the project planning stage, the energy infrastructure that is suitable for the area’senergy needs and that can support its sustainable development. We aim to achieve this goal byquantitatively assessing the impact of the project on the area in terms of social, economic andenvironmental aspects.
This report gives an overview of QoEnTM and summarizes the joint development research
conducted with the University of New South Wales in Australia.

|1. Introduction
Environmental awareness has grown further since the adoption of the “Paris Agreement” asan international framework to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in 2015, accelerating the“penetration of clean energy such as renewable energy” and the “promotion of digitalization” alongwith “technological innovation” in the field of energy infrastructure. At the United Nations Summit
in 2015, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted to realize a “sustainable society
with diversity and inclusion,” in which issues related to climate change were also addressed.
Following this SDG approach, ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) investment isbecoming the mainstream and companies paying attention to environmental, social and governanceissues are prioritized/selected for investment. An increasing number of companies have started
using renewable energy to reduce CO2 emissions or have set the goal of operating their businesses
only using renewable energy. As such, the importance of renewable energy is expected to furtherincrease.
On the other hand, the amount of electricity generated by renewable energy ischaracteristically and considerably dependent on climatic conditions and topography. As shown in
Figure 1, the existing energy infrastructure is influenced by renewable energy in various ways.
(1) Increase of public financial burden due to subsidies, incentives, etc., to promote theintroduction of renewable energy(2) Shutdown or discontinuation of existing thermal power plants(Lowered availability and economy, and increased gap between installed capacity and thepeak demand)(3) Mismatch between supply and demand due to variable power generation(Necessity of regulated power supply and additional investment in energy infrastructure)(4) Limitations on investment in new energy infrastructures (thermal power plants)*1

Project Execution Manager, Power & Energy Solution Business Planning Department, Power & Energy Solution Business Division,*2Fellow, Senior Chief Engineer, Power Systems

Power Systems

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 57 No. 1 (March 2020)
2Energy infrastructure is essential in underpinning the economic growth of a region. Theenergy mix, in which various energy sources including renewable energy are combined foreffective use, will be of increasing importance for the realization of a stable energy supply.

Figure 1Energy transition surrounding energy infrastructure|2. Our future direction
To supply energy in a stable manner, Japan has adopted and aims to fulfil the basic energy
policy of S+3E: safety as a prerequisite (Safety), stable supply (Energy security), improvement ofefficiency from an economic perspective (Economic efficiency) and environmental compatibility(Environment). It is important to realize a balanced energy mix without depending on only a certain
energy source.
For the realization of sustainable development, it is also important to take the same stance onenergy security, economic efficiency and the environment as with the case of energy infrastructure.
For example, as described in Section 1, the penetration of renewable energy can considerably
contribute to “environmental performance.” It can also lower the “economic performance,”
however, because additional investment may be necessary to balance the supply and demand, or it
can also lower the “social performance” due to the installation/operation of facilities required touse renewable energy, etc. It therefore cannot necessarily be said that every case is sustainable.

Figure 2

Our future direction

To realize sustainable development, our society has to grow while maintaining the area’sbalance of (1) society, (2) economy and (3) the environment. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
(MHI) therefore proposes that energy sources that can balance these three aspects are defined asMitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 57 No. 1 (March 2020)
3“high-quality energy infrastructure.” Furthermore, we also consider that it is our social
responsibility to present suggestions in a simple, quantitative manner to energy infrastructure
planners and investors regarding how these aspects can be balanced or how the infrastructure
should work (Figure 2).

|3. Proposal of our new approach: QoEnTM (pronounced as“ku-won”)
At the planning stage of a project such as urban development, the topics that are mainly
considered include (1) what kind of society should be created, (2) in what way investment can beattracted and (3) what kind of energy infrastructure should be applied. As shown in Figure 3, weare developing an assessment tool to quantify indices in terms of the three aspects of society,economy and the environment using public data of the region concerned. With this tool, we will beable to assess how new energy infrastructure, if introduced, can contribute to the area byquantifying and showing the gap between current indices and future indices.
Accordingly, we aim to suggest the direction toward high-quality energy infrastructure toplanners and investors. The term QoEnTM (“ku-won”) will be used to collectively refer to this kindof assessment tool, and we are proceeding with its trademark registration. (Based on the phrase
Quality of Energy, the term QoEnTM was also coined to sound like the Japanese word “久遠(Ku-on, which means eternity).”)We intend to make this assessment tool publicly available in the future, allowing for its useby third parties with public data.

Figure 3

Our proposal of new, key index approach: QoEnTM|4. QoEnTM overview and application concept
QoEnTM is characterized by its capability of visualizing the current status through the threequantified indices of society, economy and the environment based on public data such as thestatistical data of the region concerned. The development or growth goals of the area, for example,
are calculated and regarded as target indices. By comparing these two types of indices (i.e., current
status and future), QoEnTM can reveal any discrepancies.
Furthermore, the use of a triangular radar chart to plot the three quantified indices canprovide immediate comprehension in terms of the balance of the three indices and a comparison
with other areas. Figure 4 is a conceptual illustration of the application of the tool, and theapplication phases are summarized below.
Phase I: Select indicators such as electricity price and CO2 emissions to estimate social,economic and environmental indices
Phase II: － Estimate and visualize the current status of each index (as shown by a redtriangle tagged as Current status)－ Estimate and visualize the development or growth goals as future indices (asshown by a green triangle tagged as either Current status or Future)Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 57 No. 1 (March 2020)
4－ Design new energy infrastructure and simulate its impact on the currentstatus (as shown by a red triangle tagged as Future)
Phase III: Assess the simulation results from the perspective of the balance between
society, economy and the environment, and propose the direction for new energy
infrastructure based on the assessment results
The application of QoEnTM thus enables us to evaluate the current status in the context of thedevelopment or growth goals of the area and quantify/visualize the impact of introducing newenergy infrastructure in terms of how much this introduction can bring the current status closer tothe future indices.

Figure 4

QoEnTM overview and application concept|5. Application to urban development project in Australia
In October 2018, MHI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with theGovernment of New South Wales in Australia to cooperate in providing energy management
solutions, etc., for the comprehensive development plan of the Western Sydney region.

Figure 5 Outline of development plan for Western Sydney region(1)As a joint project by Government of New South Wales with the Australian Federal
Government and the eight municipalities in the Western Sydney region, our areas of focus were theSecond Sydney Airport (scheduled to begin its operation in 2026) and the surrounding areas asshown in Figure 5. The New South Wales Government, which is coordinating infrastructuredevelopment for the region, formulated a plan to decentralize city functions by creating several

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 57 No. 1 (March 2020)
5

central business districts in the Sydney metropolitan area. In addition to these central business
districts in Sydney, the government has started a second program to develop other central business
districts, which was initiated by the relocation of state government agencies to suburban areas.
Other organizations such as leading companies, universities and research institutions have also
participated in this program.
To make QoEnTM applicable to the Western Sydney region, we are conducting joint
development research with the University of New South Wales in Australia, taking into
consideration access to Australian public data and securing index transparency. We will publish theresearch outcomes including the application results for the Western Sydney region.

|6. Conclusion
While the requirements for an energy infrastructure vary depending on the region of theworld, it is important to propose high-quality energy infrastructure that suits the needs andcharacteristics of the region and can support the realization of sustainable development. We will
apply QoEnTM to propose, from the planning stage of a project such as urban development, theoptimal energy infrastructure that can realize both reduced environmental impact and economicgrowth, thereby contributing to the realization of sustainable development in accordance with thecharacteristics of each region.
In addition to a stable energy supply under normal circumstances, it is also becoming
necessary to take the recent viewpoint of maintaining/improving “energy resilience” (i.e.,
resistance to emergencies such as natural disasters) into account for energy infrastructure. We willtake on the challenge of making such assessment possible.
QoEnTM and its related mark/logo are trademarks of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Inc.

References(1)

NSW Government, Delivering The Western Parkland City, April 2019