Tokyo Gas Enters Capital and Business Alliance Agreement with Shizen Connect for Residential VPP Business

Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. (President and CEO: Shinichi Sasayama; hereinafter "Tokyo Gas") has entered into a capital and business alliance agreement (hereinafter "the Alliance") with Shizen Connect, Inc. (Representative Director and CEO: Kazukazu Matsumura; hereinafter "Shizen Connect") for a residential Virtual Power Plant (VPP) business.

Residential VPPs, which aggregate and control residential batteries, are expected to serve as a crucial means of adjusting power supply and demand and stabilizing the electric power system as the use of renewable energy expands.

Through this alliance, the companies will promote the expansion of aggregation services in the residential VPP market by combining Shizen Connect’s platform, which connects to distributed energy resources from diverse manufacturers, with Tokyo Gas’s customer base and energy management expertise.

To date, Tokyo Gas has been working toward stabilizing the power system by providing solutions for the installation of solar power and storage battery equipment, and by expanding its "Storage Battery Network Service," which remotely controls the charge/discharge timing of residential storage batteries. Moving forward, the company will contribute to the stabilization of the power system by building a mechanism that automatically optimizes control of various distributed resources and leverages them in the market. Simultaneously, it aims to develop and provide services that return economic value to customers.

In its group management vision "Compass2030," Tokyo Gas has pledged to build a "value co-creation ecosystem" and take on the challenge of achieving "CO2 Net Zero." By creating and providing services that solve diverse challenges from individual lives to regional communities, the company contributes to the realization of a "decarbonized society" together with its customers.

Tokyo Gas Group has celebrated its 140th anniversary. It continues to take on challenges as a company that goes beyond Tokyo and beyond gas to get ahead of the future.

About the solution brand "IGNITURE": In November 2023, Tokyo Gas launched its solution brand, "IGNITURE," to facilitate the full-scale deployment of its solution business. Through solutions provided under "IGNITURE," residential, corporate, and regional/community customers can seamlessly balance a 'more prosperous future through improved economy, convenience, and efficiency via optimization' with a 'sustainable lifestyle and business through decarbonization and enhanced resilience.'