Key Point of President's Regular Press Conference

May 2021 Regular Press Conference : President Hayashi's Message

May 25, 2021
Chubu Electric Power Co.,Inc.

I will be discussing the following matters today:

Chubu Electric Power’s Entry into the Plant Factory Business

Chubu Electric Power’s Entry into the Plant Factory Business

The Chubu Electric Power Group’s Management Vision states that we will strive to deliver high-quality energy in a safe, reasonable, and stable form and touts the provision of “new forms of communities” as a new growth field that will serve as a starting point for solving a variety of societal issues.
In terms of concrete measures, it is our aim to offer new value generated through the construction of a “community support infrastructure” formed around the core concepts of the “customer’s perspective”, “carbon free”, and “digital transformation (DX)”.
Until now, in addition to the services that make use of the Chubu Electric Power Group’s proprietary infrastructure and know-how, we have been promoting initiatives transcending traditional business domains, such as life care, medicine, and other areas.
Today, with the goal of offering new value through ‘food security and safety,’ we made the decision to enter the plant factory business in the food and agriculture sector, and concluded an investor agreement with ES-CON Japan Ltd. and SPREAD Co., Ltd. to establish a limited liability company that will construct and operate plant factories.
Out of the greater need for ‘food security and safety,’ expectations are currently high for plant factories capable of cultivating fresh vegetables that maintain consistent quality in shape, taste, and nutrition in a hygienic environment.
In addition, plant factories have the advantage of being able to stably produce agricultural products with little labor as the cultivation environment is managed and controlled indoors. This will contribute to resolving the societal issues of fewer farmers due to the declining birthrate and aging population as well as the unstable food supply due to frequent abnormal weather events.
Pursuant to the agreement concluded today, Chubu Electric Power and the other two companies will establish TSUNAGU Community Farm LLC in July of this year and set about working to construct and operate plant factories.
Specifically, we aim to begin construction in October of this year on Techno Farm Fukuroi, which will be the world’s largest plant factory utilizing totally artificial light and capable of producing 10 tons of lettuce per day, at an approximately 24,400 m² site in Fukuroi city, Shizuoka Prefecture, which was acquired by ES-CON Japan, and to launch production in January 2024.
Our energy management know-how, ES-CON Japan’s real estate development capabilities, and the collective capabilities of the entire Chubu Electric Power Group will be leveraged to enhance the energy efficiency and reduce initial costs for constructing and operating plant factories. SPREAD’s proprietary cultivation technology and sales channels will be utilized to deliver reliable and safe lettuce of consistent quality to consumers.
Moreover, through the operation of plant factories, we will offer a solution to issues affecting our food and the agricultural sector and be able to contribute to realizing a sustainable and comfortable society as well as the achievement of SDGs through the promotion of decarbonization efforts, including proactively utilizing clean energies and effectively utilizing CO₂ in the cultivation process.
Using the plant factory business as a starting point, the Chubu Electric Power Group will work on smart agriculture capable of high-quality production and labor savings by employing cutting-edge technologies, and aim to revitalize community agriculture and realize a recycling-oriented society.
In seeking to realize our management vision, we will collaborate with diverse partners to establish new growth fields, strive to maximize value afforded to our customers and society, and achieve sustainable growth.

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