#Japan #Renewable Energy #Tokyo #Clean Energy Connect #Toro & Company

Clean Energy Connect and Toro & Company Form Strategic Alliance

In a major step towards advancing corporate renewable energy procurement and enhancing decarbonization efforts, Clean Energy Connect, led by CEO Teppei Uchida, has entered into a strategic partnership with Toro & Company, helmed by CEO Ryuta Kitagawa. This collaboration aims to address the increasingly complex challenges associated with sustainable energy sourcing faced by many corporations today.

Context: From Cost to Competitive Advantage

As businesses navigate regulatory requirements like RE100 and SBT, the pressure to effectively reduce emissions across the entire supply chain grows. Corporate renewable energy procurement has emerged as a critical business issue that directly influences company value. Despite this, various structural challenges limit many organizations' ability to make effective decisions. The most notable of these challenges include:

• - Inability to formulate optimal renewable energy procurement strategies, leading to isolated initiatives
• - Difficulty in implementing advanced schemes such as Off-site Corporate PPAs and new power supply arrangements
• - Complexity in designing solutions that simultaneously meet cost, stability, and environmental value
• - Lack of execution capabilities to achieve 24/7 carbon-free energy goals

To overcome these hurdles, it’s essential that businesses develop a framework that integrates strategic planning and operational execution seamlessly.

Partnership Objectives: Comprehensive Support from Strategy to Implementation

The newly established partnership will leverage the strengths of both firms, creating a holistic support system for corporate renewable energy procurement, extending from strategy formulation to implementation and management. This collaborative approach is expected to drive more effective outcomes for clients.

Overview

By combining the capabilities of Clean Energy Connect and Toro & Company, the partnership promises comprehensive support for clients’ renewable energy procurement needs.

Role Distribution

Clean Energy Connect will focus on:

• - Development and operation of small-scale solar power plants
• - Provision of Off-site Corporate PPAs and Virtual PPAs
• - Structuring projects and financing schemes tailored to client needs, including joint ventures
• - Operational support leveraging the “CEC-Cloud®” for digital transformation in projects
• - Delivery of 24/7 carbon-free energy solutions through battery systems

Toro & Company will offer:

• - Support for overarching renewable energy procurement strategies
• - Assistance in designing flexible procurement schemes
• - Establishment and operational support for new power supply arrangements to increase procurement flexibility
• - Guidance on battery implementation to maximize renewable energy utilization

Value Proposition: Actionable Decarbonization Tied to Business Decisions

This partnership will deliver significant value to corporate executives and sustainability officers by:
1. Eliminating the disconnect between strategy and execution
2. Optimizing costs and risks associated with procurement strategies, achieving long-term cost stability
3. Ensuring effective reduction of Scope 2 emissions through additional renewable energy sources
4. Providing realistic pathways toward 24/7 carbon-free energy, while progressively addressing climate goals

Future Prospects

This partnership aims to evolve renewable energy from mere procurement initiatives into a key element of corporate strategy, supporting both enhanced competitiveness and successful decarbonization efforts.

Company Profiles

Clean Energy Connect: Established to rapidly and flexibly offer end-to-end green power solutions, Clean Energy Connect assists clients—from decarbonization-focused companies to RE100 participants—by crafting optimal plans, executing them, and verifying their effects post-implementation. By leveraging abandoned farmland for the distribution of over 2,700 small solar power plants nationwide, they enable rapid green power adoption and systematic CO2 reduction. Their clientele includes major firms like Dai-ichi Life, NTT Group, and Amazon.

Toro & Company: Toro & Company specializes in facilitating corporate Green Transformation (GX). Their services range from strategic planning to operational support for renewable energy procurement, alongside the establishment and management of new power supply frameworks. They have a demonstrated track record in supporting clients like Nomura Real Estate and Chubu Electric.