NTT and Kansai Electric Power's Hourly Renewable Energy Matching: A New Horizon for the Energy Market

The 'hourly renewable energy matching' system being adopted by NTT and Kansai Electric Power holds the potential to dramatically increase transparency and efficiency in the energy market. This goes beyond simply increasing the use of renewable energy; it lays the foundation for tracking and managing the carbon footprint of energy consumption in real-time. FireMarkets closely analyzes these shifts in the energy market and provides investors with the insights they need.

NTT and Kansai Electric Power's Innovative Collaboration: Hourly Renewable Energy Matching

Background and Necessity

In line with the recent trend of strengthening ESG management among companies and the global spread of efforts to achieve carbon neutrality, NTT and Kansai Electric Power have decided to adopt an 'hourly renewable energy matching' system as an innovative solution to reduce the carbon footprint of energy consumption. The existing Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) system calculates renewable energy usage based on annual totals, leaving the possibility that electricity consumption during specific times may be supplied by fossil fuel-based power. Hourly matching overcomes these limitations and is expected to contribute to increasing the actual renewable energy usage rate.

System Operation

The hourly renewable energy matching system operates by connecting the amount of electricity consumed at a specific time with the same amount of renewable energy generated in real-time. For example, if NTT's data center consumes 100MWh of electricity at a specific time, it secures and offsets the same amount, 100MWh, of solar or wind power generation at that time. This allows NTT to prove that 100% of the electricity used to operate its data center is renewable energy.

Expected Effects and Market Impact

• Reduced Carbon Emissions: Real-time renewable energy usage can effectively reduce a company's carbon footprint.


• Enhanced Energy Market Transparency: Hourly matching increases energy market transparency by clearly demonstrating the correlation between renewable energy generation and consumption.


• Expanded Renewable Energy Investment: Increased demand for renewable energy from companies can expand investment in renewable energy generation projects.

Future Outlook

The adoption of NTT and Kansai Electric Power's hourly renewable energy matching system is expected to provide a model case for similar system adoption by other companies. In particular, industries with high energy consumption, such as data centers and manufacturing facilities, are likely to see the spread of such system adoption. Furthermore, the use of blockchain technology to transparently record and manage renewable energy usage history can also be considered. These technological advancements will increase the credibility of the renewable energy market and contribute to building a sustainable energy system.