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Mar 29, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Tomoya Onishi
TOKYO -- Mitsui will invest roughly 84 billion yen ($560 million) to develop a gas field in southern Vietnam under a project led by the Southeast Asian nation's state oil company, the Japanese trading house announced Friday. The Block B project in Kien Giang province includes field development as well as the construction of a pipeline connecting to a gas-fired power plant. Overall costs, including related outlays, will exceed $10 billion.
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Mar 6, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Ryotaro Yamada |Tomoya Onishi
PALO ALTO, California/TOKYO -- Trading house Itochu and investment company SoftBank Group are investing in Blue Laser Fusion, a nuclear fusion startup in the U.S. headed by a Japanese Nobel Prize winner in physics that is developing a method for stable power generation using proprietary laser technology. The two high-profile companies are the first investors from the Japanese private sector in BLF, which aims to make the technology commercially viable by 2030.
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Mar 6, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Ryotaro Yamada |Tomoya Onishi
PALO ALTO, California -- Trading house Itochu and investment company SoftBank are investing in Blue Laser Fusion (BLF), a nuclear fusion startup in the U.S. developing technology for stable electricity generation using proprietary laser technology. The two high profile companies are the first investors from the Japanese private sector in the company, which has set 2030 as its commercial launch target date.
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Mar 4, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Yoshihiro Hara |Tomoya Onishi
TOKYO -- Japanese convenience store chain FamilyMart and its partner in China are ending their battle in favor of forging a new strategy together as competition heats up with homegrown rivals. FamilyMart said Monday it has reached an agreement with Taiwan's Ting Hsin International Group to reorganize their joint venture in China.
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Feb 21, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Tomoya Onishi
TOKYO -- Japanese trading house Itochu and a domestic corporate reconstruction fund, J-Will Partners (JWP), are making final arrangements to acquire embattled used-car giant Bigmotor, Nikkei learned on Wednesday. Plans call for splitting Bigmotor -- which is embroiled in a scandal involving fraudulent insurance claims -- into two businesses, with the newly created company taking over major operations such as used-car sales and maintenance.
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Feb 4, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Tomoya Onishi
TOKYO -- Japanese trading house Itochu has begun developing large-scale solar power plants in the U.S., taking on an expanded role in the projects amid anticipation of greater American demand for the energy source thanks partly to government subsidies. These solar projects involve selecting a site, designing the facility and selling the property after securing a buyer for the energy to be produced.
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Jan 14, 2024 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Tomoya Onishi
TOKYO -- Japanese trading house Mitsubishi Corp. looks to invest over 100 billion yen ($690 million) to build one of the world's largest "green" hydrogen production plants in the Netherlands. Green hydrogen is produced by electrolysis of water using electricity derived from renewable energy, meaning carbon dioxide is not emitted during the process. It carries great potential as a next-generation, carbon-free fuel source.
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Oct 11, 2023 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Shoya Okinaga |Tomoya Onishi |Azusa Kawakami
TOKYO -- Honda Motor will create a utility business by connecting electric vehicles to the grid and using them for the supply and storage of electricity in partnership with the trading house Mitsubishi Corp., Nikkei has learned. The two companies are in talks to establish the joint venture next year, and are also looking into the possibility of forming a broader partnership in the energy field, including energy management services and recycling rare metals from used batteries.
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Sep 7, 2023 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Tomoya Onishi |Naoyuki Toyama
TOKYO -- Japanese trading house Itochu will invest in the business of battery farms storing energy from renewable sources, Nikkei has learned. Widespread use of such large-scale storage could lead to the effective utilization of renewable energy in Japan, which has lagged behind the U.S. and Europe. The Warren Buffett-backed trading house will tie up with Australia's Akaysha Energy, which operates storage batteries to generate renewable energy.
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Sep 7, 2023 | 
asia.nikkei.com | Tomoya Onishi |Naoyuki Toyama
TOKYO -- Japanese trading house Itochu will invest up to 100 billion yen ($678 million) by 2030 in the business of battery farms storing energy from renewable sources, Nikkei has learned. Widespread use of such large-scale storage could lead to the effective utilization of renewable energy in Japan, which has lagged behind the U.S. and Europe. The Warren Buffett-backed trading house will tie up with Australia's Akaysha Energy, which operates storage batteries to generate renewable energy.
