Energy

Kawasaki Heavy Industries looks to bring the first hydrogen liquefier made by a Japanese company to market around 2020, Nikkei has learned, a development that could spur wider use of the fuel in power generation and cars.

Honda Motor and General Motors will join in a research project that could determine whether electric vehicles can be used to stabilize the supply of power in next-generation smart grids.

Japanese retail conglomerate Aeon will invite solar power providers to lease the rooftops of its malls and install panels to supply electricity to the stores below.

Three years have passed since the total liberalization of the electricity retailing market started in April 2016. Under the system, households can in theory freely choose their electricity suppliers from a range of smaller newcomers and the major companies that had monopolized supplies in their respective service areas, leading to a fierce price war.

With a view to getting more people riding electric motorcycles, four major motorcycle makers in the nation are considering a unified standard for batteries, charging stations and other facilities, informed sources said Tuesday.

Panasonic has begun test operation of an electric-vehicle charging station in India, seeking to tap growing demand amid a government push to popularize the environmentally friendly autos.

Japanese trading house Marubeni said Thursday that it will team with Kansai Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power to efficiently deliver electricity to a Filipino green city being built on the site of a former U.S. military base.

Nissan Motor's electric-car battery business began its new life Monday under the majority ownership of the Envision group, a Chinese renewable energy concern.

Major Japanese electric companies are seeking to diversify their sources of profits through the use of power transmission and distribution networks, including steel towers and electric poles.

Offshore wind farms planned across Japan total 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) in project costs, Mizuho Bank estimates, offering lending opportunities for banks seeking to boost their environmental credentials.