Toyota Tsusho Corporation ("Toyota Tsusho") announced today the completion of construction for a set of transmission and substation facilities undertaken by North Hokkaido Wind Energy Transmission Corporation ("Hokubu Souden"), a special purpose company established by several companies, including Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation ("Eurus Energy"), a group company of Toyota Tsusho Corporation. The Toyota Tsusho Group has been installing Japan's largest-scale storage battery system, power transmission and substation facilities, and one of the largest wind power generation facilities in Japan in the northern area of Hokkaido.

This project is part of the Power Grid Development Demonstration Project for Wind Power Generation sponsored by the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy under Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. It is being undertaken as a demonstration project for the development of a regional power grid and technical challenges in the northern Hokkaido area, a suitable site for wind power generation with challenges in expanding the introduction of wind power generation due to the weak power grid. In 2013, Hokubu Souden was selected as the project operator, and commercial operation started on April 12, 2023 after development, construction, testing, and adjustment.

The completed facility consists of a 78-km transmission line from Wakkanai City, Hokkaido to the Nishi-Nakagawa substation built in the town of Nakagawa by the Hokkaido Electric Power Network, Inc., the Kitatoyotomi substation and switchyard, and a system of Japan's largest lithium-ion storage batteries (240 MW / 720 MWh) to mitigate and regulate power output fluctuations at the wind power generation plant. In the neighboring area, Eurus Energy-affiliated Dohoku Wind Farm LLC and two other companies are constructing a new onshore wind farm with a capacity of 540 MW, one of the largest in Japan, and part of the plant has already been connected to the transmission and substation facilities of Hokubu Souden, with operation commencing sequentially since April 2023.
Going forward, the facility will be used to demonstrate technical challenges, and it will contribute toward resolving power grid constraints and ensuring a stable power supply for the mass introduction of wind power generation, as well as to the economic and industrial development of the region surrounding the demonstration project area.

The Toyota Tsusho Group, led by Eurus Energy, the largest wind power generation company in Japan, will accelerate its efforts to expand the introduction of renewable energy, including wind power, and to achieve carbon neutrality, in order to realize a sustainable society.