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Hachinohe Microgrid

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations5
System facts28
Sources reviewed6
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

The Hachinohe microgrid was a NEDO research demonstration in Hachinohe, Aomori, Japan, operated from October 2005 through March 2008. It linked city hall, schools, and other municipal loads over a dedicated 6 kV distribution/communications network to 510 kW of sewage/food-waste biogas generation, 130 kW of PV, a 20 kW wind turbine, a 100 kW lead-acid battery, and heat equipment. It was not a permanently operating post-2008 city utility microgrid.

Research status
Demonstration concluded in March 2008 after the NEDO operating period. The project successfully completed a one-week islanded test in November 2007, but the Microgrid Symposium's project summary says the microgrid is no longer operating because public funding ended. No credible current source was located showing that the private feeder, gas engines, battery, or EMS continue as a unified microgrid.
Historical classification
Building
Reported capacity
See component specifications
Coordinates
40.51228, 141.48840
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in Hachinohe Microgrid?

5 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

City of Hachinohe

Municipal host and participant; city hall, schools, and municipal facilities formed the principal load group. [4][6]

Organization

Hachinohe City

Host municipality and participating load owner [2]

Organization

Mitsubishi Electric

Developed and demonstrated the four-level supply-demand control system and Mitsubishi MELSEC-based communications/control architecture. [6][5]

Organization

Mitsubishi Research Institute

Project consortium participant identified in the demonstration history. [4]

Organization

New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO)

Japanese government R&D sponsor of the Regional Power Grid with Renewable Energy Resources demonstration program. [5][6][4]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

KW Solar
130 [1]
KW Gas/Diesel
510 [1]
Storage
100kW lead-acid battery [1]
Solar PV
130 kW total: two 50 kW arrays and three 10 kW arrays [2]
Biogas engines
Three 170 kW units; 510 kW total, fueled with sewage and waste gas [2]
Wind generation
20 kW [2]
Battery
100 kW lead-acid system [2]
Private feeder
5.4 km, 6 kV, carrying power and communications [2]
Control target
Supply-demand error within 3% on a six-minute moving-average basis [1]
Biogas generation
510 kW from three 170 kW gas-engine generators using sewage-digester and food-waste gas [4]
Wind generation
One 20 kW wind turbine [4][5]
Battery storage
100 kW lead-acid battery; usable energy capacity and manufacturer/model were not found [4][5]
Private distribution
Approximately 5.4 km of dedicated 6 kV line, connected to the public utility at one point [4][5]
Wood-fired heat
Wood-waste boiler rated approximately 907 kg of steam per hour, plus recovered heat from the gas engines [4]
Demonstration performance
For November 2005-July 2007, Mitsubishi Electric reported 71.3% lower energy consumption and 68.9% lower CO2 emissions versus the pre-microgrid baseline; the six-minute moving-average balance error was within 3% for 99.98% of the evaluated period [6]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

Energy management and controls

Mitsubishi Electric

Project collaborator for coordinated generation and storage control; the reviewed public materials do not name a commercial controller model. [2]

02

Biogas engines

Model not publicly disclosed

Three 170 kW reciprocating engines dispatched by the EMS. The reviewed sources do not identify manufacturer or model. [4][5]

03

Lead-acid battery

Model not publicly disclosed

100 kW fast-response resource used for tie-line compensation, isolated-operation frequency response, and instant supply-demand imbalance. Energy capacity and product details are not disclosed. [4][5]

04

Control and communications

Mitsubishi Electric — MELSEC / MELSECNET-H architecture

Hub and local PLCs communicated over private optical-fiber Ethernet and MELSECNET/H, with RS-485, analog, and digital interfaces to generators, storage, meters, and breakers; SCADA and EMS used Ethernet/TCP-IP. [5]

05

Renewable generation and boilers

Model not publicly disclosed

PV, wind, wood boiler, and heat-recovery equipment are documented only by aggregate size/function; public manufacturer and model information was not located. [4]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • Storage

    100kW lead-acid battery [1]

  • Generation

    510kW(170×3) biogas engines [1]

  • Four-level controls

    Daily operating plans and three-minute economic dispatch formed the upper optimization layers; one-second tie-line control and roughly 10 ms/local frequency response formed the power-quality layers. Gas engines handled slower adjustment while the battery responded within about one second. [5][6]

  • Grid relationship

    The project used private electrical and communication lines and a single point of common coupling to the utility. Tie-line power measured system imbalance in normal mode; after separation, generator droop and battery frequency control maintained the island. [5]

  • Islanding test

    From November 3-10, 2007, city hall and six other users maintained normal operation on the private network while isolated from the commercial system. [6]

  • Load and energy mix

    Electric loads included city hall, four schools, and other offices/facilities. The local generation mix was treated as renewable because the dispatchable engines used sewage/food-waste gas, supplemented by PV, wind, and wood-waste heat, while the utility remained available during grid-connected operation. [4][5]

  • Performance boundary

    The 71.3% energy and 68.9% CO2 reductions are demonstration-period results reported by a controls participant, not post-project performance. No annual fuel, renewable share, battery cycling, or availability series was located. [6]

  • Closure

    IEA documents operation only through March 2008, and the Microgrid Symposium summary says the integrated microgrid did not continue once public funding ceased. Historical assets must not be labeled currently operating without newer evidence. [5][4]

Provenance

6 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2021-04-20

  2. [2]
    Hachinohe Microgrid

    Microgrid Symposium · Secondary research

  3. [3]
    Urban PV systems — Hachinohe demonstration

    IEA Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme · Primary source

  4. [4]
    Hachinohe Microgrid

    Microgrid Symposiums · Secondary research

  5. [5]
    Communication Between Components in Mini-Grids

    IEA Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme · Primary source

  6. [6]

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