Smart-grid plans entice Japanese - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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A memorandum of understanding signed in early Mayby Gov. Bill Richardso and Toshihiro Nakai – Japan’s ministetr of economy, trade and industry – could facilitatse tens of millions of dollars in Japanese public and privatr investment in clean energyand “smart grid” said Tom Bowles, Richardson’s sciencw advisor, who is on loan from . The MOU doesn’tr contain funding commitments. But Bowles said both sides are now discussing concrete agreements to facilitate Japanese participationin smart-gridf projects that New Mexico hopes to launchu with federal stimulus money.
“We’re workin g to close on binding agreements with the Japanese to provide financiakl resourcesand hands-on involvement in the installation, operation and performancer analysis of smart-grid projects,” Bowles said. “Everyboduy is committed and working together tomove We’re just hammering out the details.” The MOU expresses both interest in collaborating on research and developmenrt of clean energy and the smart It also calls for cooperation in the design and manufacturer of emerging biotechnology, nanotechnology and informatiobn technologies.
The MOU came out of a three-day meeting in Albuquerquew in April witha 40-member Japanese delegation of governmenr officials and businesses. Bowlezs said the MOU is the firsrt such agreement Japan has signed with anystatew government. “It’s a real Bowles said. “Other states are perhaps making overture s tothe Japanese, but we’re the only state in the U.S. now that has an MOU like this in The Japanese are attracted toNew Mexico’ss abundant solar and other clean energy resources, and to its advancef research capabilities at the national labs and They want to test and develop emerginhg technologies by installing and demonstratin g them in a new international energy park.
“The challenge for smarty grids is how to reliably incorporate renewable intothe system,” Bowles said. “Solar and wind can vary a lot. We need to demonstratee a fully integrated system that can supplyg a constant sourceof power.” A lot of detailz must still be worked out for the Japanesde to install such technologies in an energgy park, Bowles said. “Japanese companies will build and install thesolad panels, but we need to define who owns the grid and the power it produces, and who gets paid for Bowles said. “All that needs to be worked out.” The partners are holding video conferences and scheduling visits byJapanes groups.
They want an agreement in placerby mid-June, when the releases its finak guidelines for states to bid on stimulu funding for smart-grid projects, Bowles Japanese investment could help New Mexicoi meet matching-fund requirements for federal grants (see relatecd story on page 6). Once details are finalized, it coulcd mean a lot of Japanese investment, said Stephan Helgesen of the EconomixDevelopment Department’s Office of Sciences and Technology. “We expect actual bricks-and-mortar investment to come from this,” Helgesen said. Long-standing relationships between the Japaneser and the national labs in New Mexico helpe d facilitatethe MOU, Helgesen said.
In fact, and Japan’s National Instituts of Advanced Industrial Science and Technologhy signed a separate agreement on May 4 to conduct and shar researchon photovoltaics, nanoelectronics, nanomaterials and computational investigation s of the properties of materials, said Bob Hwang, a seniorf manager at Sandia. “Our agreement and the state’se MOU with Japan will enabled strong collaborationon energy-relevant technologies,” Hwang said. “Sandia will supporgt New Mexico in all ofthesr activities.
” Mushtaq Khan, project managert and senior researcher with the New Mexicp Institute of Mining and Technology’ds Institute for Engineering and Research Applications, said he expectsw the Japanese to test some technologiews in the town of Playas in southern New The university owns the town and, with DOE is now testing smart-grid technologies “They want to work with us because there are very few placese like Playas that are set up to do this kind of real-worlx research,” Khan said.