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Smart Community Solutions Contributing to Reconstruction after Earthquake Disaster Smart Technologies for Reconstruction of Damaged Communities in Japan YOKOYAMA Akihiko Proposal of Potential Measures to Revive Communities after Earthquake Disaster SHINOHARA Tetsuya / MATSUI Shoko At 14:46 on March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake struck with its epicenter located east of the Oshika Peninsula in Miyagi Prefecture. It was the most powerful earthquake in recorded Japanese history, having a magnitude of 9.0. The tsunami triggered by the earthquake flooded 561 km2 of land extending from Aomori Prefecture in the Tohoku region of northern Japan to Chiba Prefecture in the Kanto region. The number of people confirmed dead or listed as missing exceeded 20,000 and the number of damaged or destroyed houses totaled more than 170,000, making it the worst postwar disaster in Japan. With many problems to be overcome, restoration efforts are expected to continue for a long time. The main objective of these efforts is not only to simply return to the pre-earthquake conditions, but also to surpass them and create communities that are intrinsically in harmony with the environment. Toshiba is contributing to the restoration and reconstruction of the affected areas, making full use of its community solutions based on control technologies and system technologies acquired through the development of social infrastructures. Smart Grid Technologies for Robust Power Supply Infrastructure against Disaster TAKAGI Kikuo / TAKEDA Daisuke / IINO Yutaka Japan's power supply infrastructure systems with their reputation for high supply reliability are currently facing the risk of wide-area blackouts and serious shortages of electricity as a result of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Smart grid technologies, which are being rapidly developed in order to introduce renewable energy sources and improve the efficiency of energy usage, are now also a focus of rising expectations in terms of a new functionality; namely, the achievement of reliable power supply systems that are robust against disasters. In response to this situation, Toshiba has been engaged in the development of next-generation smart grid technologies based on the μEMS (Micro Energy Management System)—which is an integrated technology utilizing photovoltaic (PV) energy, battery storage systems, and various forms of distributed generation—and technologies for the community energy management system (CEMS). Smart PV Battery System with Combination of Photovoltaic Power Generation and Battery System KATAYAMA Kyosuke / SAMEDA Yoshito / HASEGAWA Yoshiaki Photovoltaic (PV) power generation systems are currently attracting attention as a decentralized form of power supply that is useful during outages of the social energy infrastructure in the event of disasters and so on. Toshiba is proposing a "smart PV battery system" comprising a PV power generation system and a battery system, which is able to supply stable power regardless of the grid connection. The smart PV battery system features an autonomous control mechanism associated with external conditions such as grid connection of power systems, the weather, and so on. We are making efforts to develop and verify the related technologies in order to realize the smart PV battery system. HEMS and BEMS Energy Management Solutions to Realize Disaster-Robust Houses and Buildings YOGO Masashige / NISHIMURA Nobutaka / OGITA Yoshihiro Huge amounts of energy have been consumed to provide a safe, secure, and comfortable life in Japan. However, now that electricity conservation and blackouts have become a critical issue following the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, there is an urgent need to implement measures for houses, buildings, and facilities against the serious shortage of electricity. In order to realize a social infrastructure with robustness against disasters as well as a good balance between comfort and energy saving, Toshiba has been developing and providing total energy solutions called the home energy management system (HEMS) and the building energy management system (BEMS). Among the technologies employed by these systems are a technology for effective usage of renewable energies such as photovoltaic (PV) generation, technologies for electricity and thermal storage, and a demand response control technology to regulate power supplies by peak cut and peak shift adjustment. Modular Data Center Providing Business Continuity Planning Solutions SATO Kazuhide / HONDA Makoto Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have become increasingly important in recent years as a platform supporting people's activities through efficient information and knowledge sharing via networks. In the event of problems occurring in an information system, however, serious damage might be caused to the whole of society depending on the circumstances. Toshiba has developed a modular data center that achieves high durability equivalent to that of a building, realizes cost saving, and can be rapidly constructed. With the combination of a facility solution using the modular data center and an ICT solution, we can offer business continuity planning (BCP) decision-making and disaster recovery (DR) capabilities in order to maintain enterprise continuity when a disaster occurs. Efforts Aimed at Restoration and Reconstruction of Water Supply and Sewage Facilities Damaged by Great East Japan Earthquake TOMIZAWA Yukihiko / TAMURA Kunio / TAKATSU Mitsuru The Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, caused widespread damage to water supply and sewage facilities. In particular, the tsunami generated by the earthquake damaged a number of sewage facilities located along the coasts of the affected areas. In order to restore the lost functions of these damaged water supply and sewage facilities, Toshiba is making full-fledged efforts to examine the sites and provide temporary facilities and equipment for urgent repairs. Through these activities, our aim is to contribute to the restoration and complete reconstruction of the areas affected by the disaster by offering useful solutions. |