Publication date: June 30, 2026
Japan Data Center Update 24: Operational Innovation and Efficiency Move Up Japan’s Data Center Agenda
NTT Data to leverage data center UPS as flexibility for the balancing market
NTT Data announced that it will provide power from uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems installed at its domestic data centers as flexibility in the balancing market. The company will use retired EV batteries as storage batteries for the UPS systems. As it prepares to enter the balancing market in FY2027, NTT Data expects to secure 50 MW of flexibility by 2030. This will be the first case in Japan of using data center UPS systems as flexibility.
NTT Data, 4R Energy, a joint venture between Nissan Motor and Sumitomo Corporation, and Nissan Trading will cooperate in securing retired EV batteries. They aim to establish a reuse model for UPS systems and second-life EV batteries, contributing to more effective asset utilization and waste reduction.
Japan adds data center efficiency measures under energy conservation rules from April 2026
In response to growing electricity demand from data centers, Japan has introduced new measures since April 2026 under the Energy Conservation and Non-Fossil Energy Transition Act.
The big picture: operators above a certain energy-use threshold were already required to submit periodic reports and mid- to long-term plans. From FY2026 submissions, those now must include data center-specific items like electricity consumption, PUE, and future targets.
Within that framework, two specific PUE requirements stand out:
- Efficiency standards set for newly built data centers: As part of the benchmarking system, large-scale data center operators must target a PUE of 1.4 or lower by FY2030 and report their PUE calculations (for data centers newly built from FY2029 onward, the target is 1.3 or lower).
- Tenant-type data centers also included in PUE calculation requirements: The third measure expands the scope of covered entities. Until now, efforts to achieve a PUE of 1.4 or lower applied only to colocation-type data centers and hosting/cloud owner-type data centers. From submissions in FY2026, hosting/cloud tenant-type data centers have also been added to the scope.
Brookfield Japan to pursue AI data center investment using digital infrastructure and power system expertise
Luke Edwards, head of Brookfield’s Japan unit, said the Canadian asset management major plans to promote investment in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers by leveraging its expertise in digital infrastructure and power systems. He said Brookfield aims to partner with major Japanese infrastructure operators and companies in the future, and wants to invest not only in expanding infrastructure investment but also in upgrading aging existing facilities.
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