Japan's Behind-the-Meter Energy Storage Market Gains Momentum　NextDrive Climbs to Third in National Rankings

NextDrive Becomes a Mainstream Partner for Residential Applications. It is adopted by Choshu Industry and Hanwha Japan
Japan's behind-the-meter (BTM) energy storage market is entering a period of policy-driven growth. With the support of government subsidies and rising residential demand, the market is rapidly heating up, and applications and distribution channels are expanding in parallel. Taiwan-based energy IoT platform provider NextDrive has capitalized on this trend with early strategic deployment. The company has established partnerships with leading Japanese residential energy storage brands, including Choshu Industry and Hanwha Japan, climbing to the third place in market share and aiming to challenge for the second by 2025.

According to market forecasts, shipments of residential energy storage systems in Japan are expected to reach 194,000 units in 2024, representing an annual growth of about 9%. Starting in 2025, Tokyo will mandate solar panel installations on new detached homes. Combined with various policies such as Demand Response (DR) subsidies, national GX (green transformation)-oriented housing subsidies, and Flat 35 green loans, the residential storage market is seeing steady expansion. For instance, DR subsidies alone are expected to drive over 14,000 storage units in 2024, with total subsidies reaching JPY 6.5 billion.

As the market enters a stage of practical application, the competitive edge is shifting toward "integration and dispatch capabilities," making platform-based providers increasingly important. In response to Japan's DR Ready policy initiated in 2022, NextDrive launched its proprietary Ecogenie+ energy IoT solution. This system supports integration across energy storage, solar PV, HEMS (Home Energy Management Systems), EV charging, and water heaters. It enables energy service providers and equipment manufacturers to implement digitized, intelligent energy dispatching at the consumer level, promoting residential and commercial participation in demand response, remote control, and real-time management. Ecogenie+ was awarded the 2023 Annual New Energy Chairman's Award at Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and is now being deployed in various homes and communities.

NextDrive's home energy management solution is marketed in partnership with leading distributor Hanwha Japan,
supporting residential users in advancing energy conservation, optimizing electricity usage, and participating in demand response programs.

Currently, three of the top five brands in Japan's residential energy storage market have adopted NextDrive's solution, including Choshu Industry and Hanwha Japan. Notably, the "+watt" smart home energy management service developed by NextDrive in collaboration with Choshu integrates with smart appliances from RACTO Systems, enhancing energy optimization and remote control features. Hanwha Japan incorporates NextDrive's technology into its ENECONNECT platform to strengthen solar-storage operation logic and improve energy efficiency.

NextDrive states that, as the market shifts toward operational efficiency under policy influence, platform architecture and user-side integration capabilities will become key competitive advantages in the BTM energy storage market. The company will continue to build on its field-level connected technologies and AI-driven optimization algorithms, improving distributed resource integration and grid interaction. This strategy aims to broaden the role of smart homes as Japan's BTM energy storage policies take hold and market demand grows.