Smart energy spinout company acquired by Mitsubishi 

A smart energy spinout company from the University of Strathclyde has been acquired by the Japanese electrical giant Mitsubishi.

Smart Grid Solutions, which specialises in distributing electricity from various sources, including renewables, has been bought out by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation.

The firm, a leading global provider of distributed energy resources (DER) management software for power distribution utilities and distributed energy operators, entered into an ‘agreement’ with the multinational and its subsidiary Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, Inc.

Brian Heery, president and CEO of Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, Inc (MEPPI), said: “We are very excited to bring SGS into Mitsubishi Electric. They are committed to the mission of decarbonising electric power production and have spent the last decade developing world-class products and processes.  We look forward to marrying their products with our suite of grid control products to help our customers respond to changes and still get the best performance from their electric grids.”

Noriyuki Takazawa, group president of energy and industrial systems group, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, added: “SGS offers innovative solutions that have helped power utilities in Europe and North America install, manage and optimise renewable energy resources, and we look forward to bringing that DER management core competency to new markets around the globe.

“The SGS solutions align with the Mitsubishi Electric environmental sustainability vision to realise a decarbonised society by the year 2050 through reduced greenhouse gas emissions.”

Brent Marshall, CEO of SGS, said: “We are thrilled to join Mitsubishi Electric and expand the reach of our energy management enterprise software to DER customers around the globe and – in turn – assist those customers to better manage DER assets as they strive to decarbonise their operations.”

Electric grid operators throughout the world are experiencing an increasingly complex mix of new decentralized power generation and clean energy resources. SGS offers flexible, scalable controls solutions allowing users to integrate DER for capacity management, flexible interconnection, ‘virtual power plants’, microgrids, fleet energy asset operations and energy as a service.

The acquisition is expected to close in the next several weeks. Upon close, SGS will maintain operations in Glasgow, Scotland and will report to Mitsubishi Electric Corporation’s subsidiary, Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, Inc.