Post: GridBeyond and PORT Launch Japan’s First FCR Operation

GridBeyond and PORT Launch Japan’s First FCR Operation

GridBeyond, in partnership with PORT Inc., has successfully completed Japan’s first ever Frequency Containment Reserve (FCR) operation at the PORT Gunma Isesaki BESS. The operation took place in the TEPCO Power Grid region and fully met the strict performance standards set by the Electric Power Reserve Exchange (EPRX), achieving response accuracy exactly as forecast.

Entering Japan’s Fastest and Most Lucrative Frequency Control Market

In Japan’s balancing market, FCR is the most technically demanding and commercially valuable product. It requires assets to instantly respond to grid frequency deviations, with an offline response time of under 30 seconds. By successfully delivering this FCR operation, GridBeyond has become one of the few aggregators in Japan capable of providing FCR commercially, demonstrating both superior technical capability and operational reliability in the domestic market.

Executive Comments

– Hirofumi Kasuga, President, CEO and Representative Director, PORT Inc.
“At PORT, our mission is to unlock the full potential of battery storage and accelerate the decentralisation of Japan’s energy system.
The success of this high-precision FCR operation marks an important step toward a more stable and sustainable grid.
GridBeyond’s AI-driven technology and deep expertise have been essential to achieving this milestone, and we look forward to building on this collaboration.”

– Atsushi Ito, Managing Director, GridBeyond Japan
“This successful FCR operation represents a major breakthrough for GridBeyond in Japan.
By meeting the stringent technical requirements, our AI platform has proven its capability to deliver real-time optimisation and reliability.
We would like to express our gratitude to PORT and we will continue to maximise the value of energy storage and contribute to the evolution of Japan’s flexibility markets together with our partners.”

A Cross-Functional Achievement

This project brought together GridBeyond’s engineering, development, and energy trading teams to ensure seamless delivery under Japan’s stringent frequency response standards.
Delivering FCR requires second-by-second precision, bidirectional communication, and advanced data analytics; capabilities that GridBeyond’s AI technology is uniquely positioned to provide.
The success of this operation marks a new milestone for battery aggregation in Japan’s rapidly developing flexibility market.

Future Outlook

GridBeyond and PORT plan to further expand participation across balancing markets, contributing to both the growth of renewable energy and the stability of Japan’s power grid.

Building on this success, GridBeyond will integrate a wider range of flexible assets, including battery storage, cogeneration units, and EV infrastructure, under its AI-powered optimisation platform. This will further enhance the sophistication and value of energy management across distributed systems.

Together, the two companies aim to lead the next phase of Japan’s transition toward a smarter, cleaner, and more flexible energy system.

About PORT
PORT inc., with the purpose to “change social debt into possibilities for the next generation,” develops a contract support business that adopts a pay-for-performance business model to eliminate the risk of no return for corporate clients, taking responsibility for KPIs from customer attraction to contract signing. Rewards are generated only when contracts are successfully signed, using our strong contract-winning skills and multi-channel marketing capabilities.
Currently, we are achieving high performance growth with the energy and human resources domain as our core businesses. In the energy domain, we provide contract and operational support services to electricity and gas providers. Specifically for electricity providers, our support is end-to-end, covering not only the acquisition of new contracts but also the operational support required up to electrical service activation. With over 900,000 contracts annually, we are one of the largest domestic contract support providers.
https://www.theport.jp/