Instructions from Energy Ministers at EMM-9

The Fukui Declaration from the Ninth Energy Ministers Meeting in June 2010 states that “smart grid technologies, including advanced battery technologies for highly-efficient and costeffective energy storage, can help to integrate intermittent renewable power sources and building control systems that let businesses and consumers use energy more efficiently, and they can also help to enhance the reliability of electricity supply, extend the useful life of power system components, and reduce system operating costs.” EMM-9 instructed EWG “to start an APEC Smart Grid Initiative (ASGI) to evaluate the potential of smart grids to support the integration of intermittent renewable energies and energy management approaches in buildings and industry.”

Energy Smart Communities Initiative (ESCI)

Japanese Prime Minister Kan and U.S. President Obama announced the Energy Smart Communities Initiative (ESCI) on the occasion of the APEC Leaders meeting in Yokohama in November 2011. ESCI includes pillars for smart power grids, smart buildings, smart transport and smart jobs and education. The smart power grid pillar includes tasks on smart grid road maps and a smart grid test bed network. These tasks can be reinforced through ASGI.

International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN)

An International Smart Grid Action Network (ISGAN) has been established through a Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) process that was inaugurated in Washington in July 2010 to link together the smart grid activities of the G20 and other major economies. ISGAN includes work on interoperability standards and a Smart Grid International Research Facility Network (SIRFN) which can draw upon the road maps and test bed network established through ASGI and ESCI.