KAWASAKI JAPAN—Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation (hereinafter “Toshiba ESS”) announced today that it has launched a trial LED lantern sharing service (hereinafter “the Trial”) in the Malampa Province of the Republic of Vanuatu using LED lanterns charged by renewable energy. The Trial will continue until the end of September of this year. Prior to the Trial, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed with a representative of the pilot project site in Malampa Province.

Toshiba ESS is responsible for energy business, and the company is a leading supplier of integrated energy solutions. Toshiba ESS has been developing and providing equipment systems and services, and has been considering launching a new service to solve various energy-related issues based on our knowledge and expertise accumulated over the years.

There are “unelectrified areas” on the planet where power grids are not in place, and people living there have difficulty accessing electric products. Toshiba ESS has focused on sharing services for electric products charged by renewable energy and has been conducting needs assessments and demonstrations of electric product sharing services in Pacific Island countries since 2019. The company has now confirmed the need for and acceptance of the sharing service by residents in the Malampa Province of the Republic of Vanuatu, and has reached an agreement to conduct the Trial, based on the prospect of securing economic viability through the sharing service. The Trial is being conducted in cooperation with the Vanuatu Foreign Investment Promotion Agency, the Malampa Provincial Government, the International Organization Pacific Islands Centre, and Kaihatsu Management Consulting, Inc.

The Trial will be implemented in one village in the Malampa Province, and LED lanterns charged by solar energy will be loaned to Malampa residents. In the future, electric products such as electric farm equipment and sewing machines will also be loaned.

In addition, the Trial uses a back-office system in the cloud environment of TOSHIBA SPINEX for Energy, an industrial IoT service for energy developed by Toshiba ESS, and a payment app for smartphones. The village participating in the Trial can use this payment app to record and manage the lending and returning of the LED lanterns, and residents can use the lanterns by paying a usage fee.

Furthermore, the service through the Trial will contribute to the electrification of unelectrified areas by utilizing renewable energy and reducing the capital investment cost and environmental impact required for the development of power grids. Therefore, Toshiba ESS strongly believes that the service is directly contributing to the renewable energy policy priority of the Vanuatu Government and its efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Yasutaka Arai, General Manager of the Digital Transformation Division at Toshiba ESS, said, “I am pleased that we have signed this Memorandum of Understanding, which will enable us to contribute to Malampa Province through the Trial as an opportunity to accelerate the commercialization of electric product sharing services. We will contribute to the construction of infrastructure that everyone can enjoy by promoting the electrification of communities while taking the environment into consideration.”