Energy Storage 2015 / VDE Financial Dialogue Post Show Report
Energy Storage Summit Japan 2015: Unparalleled Dialogue Across Energy StorageBusiness, Politics and Research
Energy storage remains a crucial element in the spread of renewable energy, especiallyfor the island nation Japan. In 2016, Japan’s energy industry will undergo dramaticchanges due to the planned liberalization of the energy market, and in response, Messe
Düsseldorf Japan held the second “Energy Storage Summit Japan” on November 11th12th, 2015. Partnering with Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s Energy & Climate Project for
the first day and with VDE for the VDE Financial Dialogue Japan on the second day, Messe
Düsseldorf Japan helped foster an important discussion within the country, and helped
spread information on energy storage developments from across the globe.
The event was a resounding success, with more than 270 participants from 14 countries,
including Japan, the United States, Germany, Korea, Taiwan and China. The audience
consisted mainly from company representatives in management positions.
Graph: composition of the 2015 ESSJ / VDEFDJ audience

26%

2%
12%

Management

60%

Research & Development

Source: participants dataMediaOthers

Over two days, the attendees exchanged their views on the energy storage industry anddiscussed a wide array of important subjects, such as best practices, new businessmodels, storage applications in smart cities, and the latest storage technology trends.
A special highlight was the opening session with an international comparison of the policy
framework for energy storage, provided by globally respected policymakers and storage
association representatives such as Ms. Carla Peterman, Commissioner of the California
Public Utilities Commission, and Urban Windelen, Managing Director of the German
Energy Storage Association. The session on business models gained wide attention
thanks to practical contributions by top representatives from Younicous and Vattenfall. Thefinal panel discussion on the first day included again a remarkably international group of
globally respected participants, among them policymakers Masao Shibayama from theJapaneseparliamentandCommissioner

CarlaPeterman,

but

also

industry

representatives such as Dr. Hiroshi Hanafusa, NEC’s Smart Energy Business Unit
Executive, and Hiroshi Okamoto, Managing Executive Officer of Tokyo Electric PowerCompany.
Commissioner Peterman commented on the event as follows:“The ESSJ summit provided a needed, international perspective of the energy storage
market and how it can support renewables and energy development in the years to come.
As a California regulator I appreciated the opportunity for international dialogue the ESSJ
provided. The ESSJ fosters the international collaboration necessary to maximize thebenefits of energy storage.
The ESSJ’s format of technical and policy presentation and networking sessions
illuminated how much energy storage work in underway and the opportunities for public
private partnerships.”
Commissioner Carla Peterman
California Public Utilities Commission
Topics during the Financial Dialogue session on Nov. 12th were new strategies, projectbusiness models and financing channels.
The majority of the audience was very satisfied or satisfied with the quality of the event,with just 12% saying they were neither satisfied nor unsatisfied.

Graph: Level of Satisfaction

Satisfaction Level
70%

65%

60%
50%
40%
30%

23%

20%

12%

10%
0%
very satisfied

satisfiedneutral

Source: Participants Questionnnaire

Ten exhibitors and sponsors — among them DuPont, NEC, NGK, Sumitomo Electric fromJapan, Sunfire from Germany and Yole Développment from France presented an array ofproducts, services, and storage solutions. Dr. Hiroshi Hanafusa from NEC expressed
himself enthusiastically about the event:Japan’s energy market is at a unique point in its history. When compared with Europe or
the United States, this island nation is a relative latecomer to deregulation, and awarenessof energy storage systems amongst Japanese experts in the domestic power industry is
still relatedly low. Designing and planning for the future in this field is still in the early stages.
However, as an exhibitor at the Energy Storage Summit Japan, we discovered that thenumber of interested parties is growing. Since COP21 and ESSJ took place at almost thesame time, the importance of CO2 reduction was already on everyone’s minds. Awarenessis growing in Japan, and we noticed an increasing number of visitors from assorted
industries who are considering new businesses that incorporate energy storage systems.
By exhibiting at Energy Storage Summit Japan, we were able to establish new networks
with representatives from many of these industries, and we consider our participation very
effective for growing our business in the Japanese market.
Hiroshi Hanafusa PhD
Smart Energy Business Unit Executive Specialist, NEC Corporation
The 2015 ESSJ and VDE FDJ were held under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry of Japan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Ministry of theEnvironment of Japan, NEDO, AIST and Osaka Prefecture from the Japanese side, theDelegation of the European Union to Japan, the German Embassy to Japan, the EU-Japan
Centre for Industrial Cooperation and the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce inJapan from the European side. The event was supported by 17 industry associations andresearch organizations and 10 media ventures.
The next Energy Storage Summit is scheduled for Nov. 8-9, 2016, and will cover an evenbroader base of energy solution topics, including gas and hydrogen, smart houseapplications and regulations, and e-mobility. It will be followed by one day of onsite-visitsof battery and hydrogen facilities and as well as smart city project on Nov. 10, 2016.
Your contact:
Dr. Andreas MOERKE / Mr. Ken NAGATA
Messe Düsseldorf JapanNew Otani Garden Court 7F, 4-1, Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0094 Japan
Tel.: +81-3-5210-9951 Mail: essj@messe-dus.co.jp
Web: https://essj.messe-dus.co.jp/en/energy-storage-summit-japan/
Photos：https://essj.messe-dus.co.jp/en/press-photos/
Detailed program：
https://essj.messe-dus.co.jp/fileadmin/essj/uploads/programs/ESSJ2015_program.pdf

On ESSJThe Energy Storage Summit Japan is an integral part of Messe Düsseldorf’s “World of Energy Storage”
event series. These conferences and exhibitions are based on the knowledge that the production andstorage of energy is an issue that influences science, politics and industry on a global level. The World ofEnergy Storage (WOES) currently consists of five conferences and trade shows being held on threecontinents, and therefore covers the five most important energy markets worldwide: North America, India,China, Europe and Japan.

On Messe Düsseldorf Japan
Messe Düsseldorf Japan (MDJ) is a subsidiary of the German trade fair organizer Messe Düsseldorf
operating out of its Tokyo office. Founded in 1994, MDJ provides assistance to Japanese companies
interested in participating in trade fairs organized by Messe Düsseldorf group worldwide. MDJ also organizes
seminars, conferences and expos in Japan.