Toshiba Partners with EcoIsland on Isle of Wight Project (UK)

Toshiba Corporation today announced that the company has signed a Global Partnership agreement with EcoIsland, the ambitious project to make the Isle of Wight a model sustainable community offering a high quality of life.

Deeply grounded in a partnership with the local community, EcoIsland will explore solutions that harness renewable energy and advanced technology to secure self sufficiency in energy. As a Global Partner, Toshiba will support EcoIsland with the diverse technologies that it brings together under the Smart Community concept.

Located off the south coast of England, the Isle of Wight (IOW) has a population of 142,000 in an area of 384 square kilometres. Through EcoIsland, the people of the island will seek to meet needs from their own resources and achieve a sustainable community that lives in closer harmony with nature while leaving a lighter footprint on the land.

By 2020, using a mix or wind, solar photovoltaic, tidal, geothermal and biomass renewable energy sources integrated with Smart Grid technology, the IOW expects to be the first region in the UK to be both energy self-sufficient and capable of exporting surplus energy generation to the mainland. Going forward, EcoIsland will also explore other initiatives to secure sustainability and enhance quality of life while reducing the cost of living, including an alternative transport system that mixes hydrogen, electric and fuel cell vehicles. A key goal is to make the IOW a socio-economic model for infrastructure development for communities around the world.

Toshiba is strongly positioned to support development of the EcoIsland concept. The company is an industry leader in power generation, transmission and distribution, with expertise in renewable energy sources that includes photovoltaic and wind power. Toshiba integrate this know-how with extensive, state-of-the art capabilities in other areas, including metering, communications, high density storage batteries, home and building management and road transportation, to deliver comprehensive, low-carbon solutions in Smart Grid and Smart Community systems.

Toshiba will work with EcoIsland and its partners to help evolve initial concepts and ambitions into firm capacity and to develop plans for the integration of IOW’s wind, tidal, geothermal and solar power resources in a Smart Grid network.

Commenting on EcoIsland, Mr. Koji Iwama, President and CEO of Toshiba of Europe said, “All of us at Toshiba are very excited to be involved in EcoIsland. This is a project driven by imagination and the vision of achieving a sustainable future where people enjoy a high quality of life. That meshes with our objectives and capabilities as a company. Across our businesses, from power generation through to energy efficient home appliances, we are committed to fostering innovation and applying our technologies to securing low carbon Smart Communities. A project with the breadth of EcoIsland can provide a model for such a future.”

Toshiba is involved in Smart Community projects around the world, including Okinawa and Yokohama in Japan, New Mexico and Indianapolis in the United States, Rome and Genoa in Italy and Lyons in France. Ongoing experience gained from these projects will enable Toshiba to fully contribute to securing the goals of EcoIsland and to support the development of a large-scale Smart Community.

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Source: toshiba, November 14, 2011; Image: wightabout