Nomura Holdings, Inc. today announced that it has invested in Greenphard Energy Co., Ltd., an advanced electricity solution company based in Minato City, Tokyo. The investment is part of Nomura’s sustainable innovation investment scheme. 1

Under the scheme, Nomura invests its own capital in unlisted companies tackling long-term social issues and projects that seek to transform entire value chains, pursuing both social impact and financial returns to directly contribute to building a sustainable society.  

Founded in 2021, Greenphard Energy is a start-up company that develops and provides advanced solutions combining Internet of Things (IoT) 2 technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) to automatically optimize control of refrigeration, cold storage, and HVAC systems.  

This helps businesses reduce electricity consumption and costs in factories, warehouses, office buildings, and data centers. By replacing aging equipment and facilities and adopting Greenphard’s solutions, businesses can also lower their environmental impact by reducing the use of CFC substitutes, which have high global warming potential.

Chie Toriumi, Chief Sustainability Officer (CSuO) at Nomura, said: “Greenphard Energy leverages advanced IoT technologies to deliver energy efficiency and create new power resources. Its initiatives can both raise efficiency and support the advancement of Japan's power system. Through this investment, Nomura will provide long-term support as Greenphard Energy seeks to enhance social and economic value in an integrated way. We are committed to helping the company grow and to realizing a decarbonized society.”

As renewable energy use grows, hourly fluctuations in power supply can create imbalances with demand and destabilize the grid. Demand Response (DR), a mechanism that adjusts supply and demand by controlling electricity on the demand side, is gaining attention as a solution. Demand Response can be sold in electricity supply-demand adjustment markets, creating a new source of revenue for electricity consumers. Greenphard Energy can act as a resource aggregator, consolidating demand side controls and selling the aggregated capacity to the market.

Nomura will support the adoption of Greenphard’s energy solutions and help create a regional Demand Response program to improve energy efficiency and supply-demand coordination—both essential for driving green transformation (GX)3. This will help address challenges with electricity costs faced by regional communities and businesses.

Nomura will support the adoption of Greenphard’s energy solutions and help create a regional Demand Response program to improve energy efficiency and supply-demand coordination—both essential for driving green transformation (GX)3. This will help address challenges with electricity costs faced by regional communities and businesses.

1Refer to Nomura Establishes Sustainable Innovation Investment Scheme

2IoT (Internet of Things) is a technology that connects various "things" such as home appliances, cars, and equipment to the Internet. 3GX (Green Transformation) is Japan’s national strategy to achieve a stable energy supply, economic growth, and emissions reduction. It involves transformations and activities that prioritize clean energy over fossil fuels.