Sustainability - Expand businesses that contribute to the environment
We are actively promoting initiatives that contribute to the environment in order to “realize a more affluent future” by leveraging our technology and experience honed over many years.
The Meiden Group aims to contribute the environment through its products and services by utilizing renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and hydroelectric power, by improving the efficiency of its products to save energy, and by optimizing customers’ equipment through maintenance and servicing.
In FY2021, we have set a target of 950,000 tons/year of environmental contribution (the expected reduction in CO2 emissions from products sold). We were unable to achieve our goal, with an emissions reduction of 736,000 tons/year due to factors such as the reduction in power generation as a result of the repair work of Hachiryu Wind Farm. In FY2022, we changed the name of “environmental contribution” to “GHG reduction contribution,” and we have set GHG reduction contribution targets using calculation methods that are comparable to standard products and services around the world. We set a GHG reduction contribution target of 8 million tons/year in FY2022. We achieved the target, having reduced emissions by 13,542,000 tons/year thanks to robust orders and a stronger production management system. Applicable products and services include the wind power sales business, photovoltaic power generating systems, hydroelectric power generation equipment, and electrical equipment for electric vehicles.
M WINDS Co., Ltd. and its affiliates operate a wind power sales business and supply renewable energy from three locations* in Japan (30 wind turbines with a generating capacity of 51,000 kW).
They conduct environmental assessments when constructing and installing wind power generators, investigating, predicting, and evaluating impacts from various perspectives, such as that on ecosystems, and implement environmental protection measures as appropriate while considering the opinions of local governments and residents.
In FY2022, the amount of electricity generated was 95,259 MWh, partly due to wind conditions. We aim to further improve the operating rate in order to increase the GHG reduction contribution in future.
Power conditioners system (PCS) is the most essential part of photovoltaic generation systems. We have consistently supplied transformer-in PCS with a built-in commercial frequency isolation transformer that emphasizes safety and security so far. PCS with 500kW output has the highest conversion efficiency of 98.7% in the world. Container type and outdoor storage cubicle type packaged with a set of equipment are also available.
Hydroelectric power is a form of renewable energy that enables steady generation of electricity throughout the year. Meidensha has delivered many small, medium, and large generators to customers in Japan and overseas.
Many of the hydroelectric power generation facilities are aging due to many years of operation. It is effective to renovate in the most suitable way for each power facility. Renovation is expected to improve efficiency/save energy, improve reliability/maintainability, and be environmentally friendly. We investigate the current status of the power facility and propose the most appropriate renovations using the latest technology for each facility.
Meidensha supplies motors and inverters installed in electric vehicles, which are becoming more common throughout the world. We promote the development of technology and products for EV and HEV drive systems. One of our new initiatives was to commercialize Meiden e-Axle, which is an integrated motor/inverter/gear (decelerator) product.
This is a standard product that will contribute to shorter development times for customers and may reduce cost compared to custom products. It has a 60% higher output density compared with existing Meidensha products (excluding decelerator) with a maximum output of 150 kW and a maximum drive shaft torque of 3,120 Nm.
In 2004, Meidensha succeeded in developing a 72-kV-class tank- type vacuum circuit breaker that uses no sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) gas, which has more than 20,000 times the greenhouse properties of CO2, and has a record of delivering more than 2,000 units to domestic and overseas electricity companies, etc. In 2020, we developed a 145-kV-class model to meet high-voltage requirements. This is the world’s first dry air insulation tank type vacuum circuit breaker of this voltage class. In October 2021, the first unit was shipped to a power company in the US state of Alaska.
In 2022, we received the 2022 Environment Minister’s Commendation for Global Warming Prevention Activity.
Field engineering is a business that contributes to the solution of customer issues by providing support through the entire life-cycle of a product, from delivery through trial runs upon installation, subsequent proposal and implementation of operation and maintenance plans, maintenance and management of installation locations, remaining life assessment of aging equipment, measures to prolong life, replacement proposals, and disposal.
In addition to regular inspection of equipment, we make proposals to achieve stable operation and life-cycle cost reduction through compliance that may be overlooked such as handling of small quantities of PCBs by the deadline, mercury arc lamps, conserving energy, and conducting environmental analysis and deterioration analysis through thermal imaging, etc., through walk-through activities where we walk through sites with our customers and investigate and assess their equipment.
