Press Releases 2016

In November 2016, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Incorporated (hereinafter called TEPCO Holdings) entered into a comprehensive strategic agreement with OSIsoft¹ on the utilization of IoT, in order to allow it to make real-time business decisions, improve operational efficiency, and develop new IoT solutions for both the domestic and overseas markets. At this time, TEPCO Holdings started to consider businesses which could utilize the data that each TEPCO Group company holds.
TEPCO Holdings became the first electric utility in Japan to enter into such an agreement with OSIsoft, which has successfully implemented IoT information infrastructure across the global infrastructure market.

Through this agreement, the integration of TEPCO Group's various electric power-related operations with OSIsoft's IoT platform for industrial applications, global knowledge and experience in IoT will be realized. TEPCO Holdings will then accelerate the process of management, and the development and promotion of new businesses, across the whole TEPCO Group.

Specifically by utilizing OSIsoft's PI System² which is the global standard software in IoT information infrastructure, TEPCO will aggregate big data on the electric power business from its group companies, and utilize this as intellectual assets.
Furthermore, by obtaining examples of advanced, global utilization of IoT and marketing information from OSIsoft, TEPCO Holdings will develop "TEPCO solutions" for various fields and provide new value to its customers, and society as a whole.

TEPCO Holdings believes that such efforts are in line with the discussion at the "Council for digitalization of electricity infrastructure (E-Tech Council)"³ established by METI in November 2016, and contribute to the enhancement of competitiveness in the electricity industry.

By providing "TEPCO solutions" to the Japanese and overseas energy industries, TEPCO aims to secure new revenue, improve operational efficiency, and reduce the cost of the overall energy system.

[Example - TEPCO Fuel & Power, Incorporated]
-From January 2017, the company will start remote monitoring, utilizing a portion of thermal power station operational data (approx. 6MkW).
-This will allow the company to avoid the occurrence of unexpected abnormalities or shut-down of power stations via failure prediction inspections, and improve power generation efficiency to reduce power generation costs.
-In the future, by utilizing the PI System, the company will extend the scope of remote monitoring for thermal power stations, including to those located overseas.

[Example - TEPCO Power Grid, Incorporated]
-With regard to the next generation monitoring control system⁴ which is currently undergoing trials, the company plans to start its full-scale operation, utilizing the PI System, in March 2019.
-This will allow it to improve efficiency for equipment and operation and reduce the total cost of equipment maintenance, as well as secure operational quality and realize an electricity supply with even greater stability.
-In the future, the company will link operational data, etc. from the next generation monitoring control system with the equipment maintenance system, transform this into IoT information and use this to create new value.

1 OSIsoft
A world-leading company that provides operation information management. Established in 1980, it developed and delivered the "PI System" IoT information infrastructure, which accounts for 50 to 60% of information infrastructure for power generation equipment in the U.S.A. The company has more than 1,000 successful customer deployments in the infrastructure industry, including electricity, gas, and water, across the world. Headquartered in San Leandro, California, U.S.A., it employs around 1,200 people.

2 PI System
One of the world's most widely-used IoT information infrastructures, developed by OSIsoft. The company has already deployed the software at more than 19,000 sites in over 127 countries.

3 Council for digitalization of electricity infrastructure (E-Tech Council)
A council established by METI in November 2016 with the aim of developing a specific program through extensive assessment of the tangible value that digitalization of the electricity infrastructure would realize, focusing on the items that would contribute to enhancing the competitiveness of the electricity industry in Japan.

4 Next generation monitoring control system
A new monitoring control system that centralizes load dispatching centers and control rooms, which had thus far been widely dispersed, on a large scale. TEPCO Power Grid, Incorporated plans to install the system from FY2018 to FY2021.

<For reference> Comprehensive strategic agreement with OSIsoft in the area of IoT(PDF 474KB)