JP7728535B2 - Electricity trading intermediary device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an electricity trading intermediation device that mediates the supply of electricity to potential buyers.

There is a demand for electricity that places a smaller burden on the global environment, such as electricity generated from renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydroelectric power, or non-fossil energy sources like nuclear power. As a result, there are laws and global initiatives in place to encourage potential buyers to use electricity generated from such environmentally friendly sources.

Laws promoting the use of electricity obtained through environmentally friendly power generation include the Global Warming Countermeasures Act (Act on Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures), the Advanced Energy Supply Structure Act, and the Environmentally Friendly Contract Act, and global initiatives such as RE100, CDP, and SBT are examples of such laws. Furthermore, to prove that the electricity used in business activities and other activities was obtained through environmentally friendly power generation, there are green power certificates, J-Credits, non-fossil fuel certificates, and other certificates that certify environmental value.

Environmental value separate from the value of electricity actually consumed includes Green Power Certificates, J-Credits, and Non-Fossil Certificates, which certify this environmental value and are traded. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a system for trading Green Power Certificates.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-009334

Apart from green power certificates, non-fossil fuel certificates are also traded, which certify the non-fossil fuel value of electricity generated from non-fossil energy sources such as solar, wind, hydroelectric, and nuclear power. Furthermore, trading has also begun for tracking non-fossil fuel certificates that include electricity attribute information (type of power source, location of power source, etc.).

In addition, there are also prospective buyers who request various types of environmental value, such as non-fossil fuel certificates, along with electricity. The types of environmental value and electricity required vary depending on the prospective buyer. For example, some prospective buyers require non-fossil fuel certificates with tracking, hoping to obtain environmental value that conforms to various systems, such as the laws or global initiatives they wish to use, and some require non-fossil fuel certificates without tracking. Furthermore, even among prospective buyers who require non-fossil fuel certificates with tracking, some specify the power generation equipment or the location where the power generation equipment will be installed.

As such, the type of environmental value (e.g., non-fossil certificates, green power certificates, J-Credits, etc.) and electricity required varies depending on the potential buyer. Therefore, since there may be a wide variety of potential buyers, there is a need for an intermediary who can provide environmental value and electricity that meets the needs of each potential buyer.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide an electricity trading intermediary device that can supply both environmental value and electricity in a manner that meets the needs of prospective buyers.

The characteristic configuration of the electricity trading intermediary device according to the present invention for achieving the above object is: an environmental value information storage unit that stores environmental value information including information on environmental values that can be offered to prospective buyers;
a provided power information storage unit that stores provided power information including information about provided power that can be provided to the purchaser;
an information output unit that outputs information to the potential purchaser;
an information receiving unit that receives demand information from the prospective purchaser, the demand information including environmental value conditions that the environmental value desired to be provided must satisfy and power conditions that the power desired to be provided must satisfy;
an extraction unit that extracts, from the information stored in the environmental value information storage unit and the provided electricity information storage unit, a combination of information on the environmental value that satisfies the environmental value conditions and the electricity conditions included in the demand information received from the intended purchaser, and information on the provided electricity;
an application item creation unit that creates application item information including necessary application items to be input by the intending purchaser as the demand information;
the information output unit outputs the application item information created by the application item creation unit to the wishing purchaser terminal used by the wishing purchaser so that the necessary application items can be inputted into the wishing purchaser terminal;
the information receiving unit is capable of receiving an input of an application of the environmental value from the prospective purchaser,
The application item creation unit creates the application item information including the necessary application items corresponding to the environmental value conditions and power conditions that match the application when the information receiving unit receives input of the application.
Here, the environmental value may include at least one of a non-fossil certificate, a green power certificate, and a J-credit.

According to the above characteristic configuration, the environmental value information storage unit can store environmental value information including information on environmental value that can be provided to prospective purchasers, and the provided electricity information storage unit can store provided electricity information including information on provided electricity that can be provided to prospective purchasers. The extraction unit can extract combinations of information on environmental value and information on provided electricity that correspond to demand information received from prospective purchasers from the information stored in the environmental value information storage unit and the provided electricity information storage unit.
Furthermore, according to this characteristic configuration, the prospective purchaser can input demand information by inputting necessary application items included in the application item information created by the application item creation unit.
Furthermore, according to this characteristic configuration, the prospective purchaser can input the environmental value conditions and power conditions that match the intended use of the environmental value as demand information. In other words, the prospective purchaser can input appropriate demand information even if they do not know exactly what environmental value and power are required by the specified system to which they wish to be applied for the use of the environmental value.
Therefore, it is possible to provide an electricity trading intermediary device that can supply both environmental value and electricity in a manner that meets the desires of prospective purchasers.

The characteristic configuration of the electricity trading intermediary device according to the present invention for achieving the above object is: an environmental value information storage unit that stores environmental value information including information on environmental values that can be offered to prospective buyers;
a provided power information storage unit that stores provided power information including information about provided power that can be provided to the purchaser;
an information output unit that outputs information to the potential purchaser;
an information receiving unit that receives demand information from the prospective purchaser, the demand information including environmental value conditions that the environmental value desired to be provided must satisfy and power conditions that the power desired to be provided must satisfy;
an extraction unit that extracts, from the information stored in the environmental value information storage unit and the provided electricity information storage unit, a combination of information on the environmental value that satisfies the environmental value conditions and the electricity conditions included in the demand information received from the intended purchaser, and information on the provided electricity;
an application item creation unit that creates application item information including necessary application items to be input by the intending purchaser as the demand information;
a purchaser information storage unit that stores information about the purchaser's past power usage,
the information output unit outputs the application item information created by the application item creation unit to the wishing purchaser terminal used by the wishing purchaser so that the necessary application items can be inputted into the wishing purchaser terminal;
The application item creation unit creates the required application items that indicate the upper limit of the electricity that the prospective purchaser can receive, which is determined based on information regarding the past electricity usage stored in the prospective purchaser information storage unit, and requests input of the electricity that the prospective purchaser wishes to receive as the electricity condition.
Here, the environmental value may include at least one of a non-fossil certificate, a green power certificate, and a J-credit.

According to the above characteristic configuration, the environmental value information storage unit can store environmental value information including information on environmental value that can be provided to prospective purchasers, and the provided electricity information storage unit can store provided electricity information including information on provided electricity that can be provided to prospective purchasers. The extraction unit can extract combinations of information on environmental value and information on provided electricity that correspond to demand information received from prospective purchasers from the information stored in the environmental value information storage unit and the provided electricity information storage unit.
Furthermore, according to this characteristic configuration, the prospective purchaser can input demand information by inputting necessary application items included in the application item information created by the application item creation unit.
Furthermore, according to this characteristic configuration, the application item creation unit creates required application items that indicate the upper limit of power that the potential purchaser can receive, determined based on information about past power usage stored in the potential purchaser information storage unit, and request input of the power supply desired as a power condition.The information output unit then outputs the application item information created by the application item creation unit to the potential purchaser terminal.In other words, the potential purchaser can input the power supply desired after knowing the past actual values of his or her power usage.
Therefore, it is possible to provide an electricity trading intermediary device that can supply both environmental value and electricity in a manner that meets the desires of prospective purchasers.

Another characteristic feature of the electricity trading intermediary device according to the present invention is that it includes an extracted information storage unit that stores a combination of the information on the environmental value extracted by the extraction unit and the information on the provided electricity.

According to the above characteristic configuration, the combination of the information about the environmental value and the information about the provided electricity extracted by the extraction unit is stored in the extracted information storage unit, thereby leaving evidence in the event that the environmental value and the electricity are transferred to a prospective buyer.

Another characteristic configuration of the electricity trading intermediary device according to the present invention is that, when there are multiple candidate combinations of the information on the environmental value extracted by the extraction unit and the information on the provided electricity, the information output unit outputs the multiple candidate combinations to the wisher purchaser terminal so that the wisher purchaser can confirm the multiple candidate combinations on the wisher purchaser terminal and can input a selection from the multiple candidate combinations on the wisher purchaser terminal;
the information receiving unit receives a combination of the information about the environmental value determined by the selection input and the information about the provided electricity;
The extraction unit sets the combination of the information related to the environmental value and the information related to the provided electricity received by the information receiving unit as the final extraction result.

According to the above characteristic configuration, if there are multiple combinations of information on environmental value and information on provided electricity extracted by the extraction unit, the potential purchaser can check these multiple combinations on the potential purchaser terminal and input a selection for one of them on the potential purchaser terminal.The extraction unit then determines the combination of information on environmental value and information on provided electricity determined by the potential purchaser's selection input as the final extraction result.In other words, it is possible to supply both environmental value and electricity in a manner that meets the potential purchaser's needs.

Another characteristic configuration of the electricity trading intermediary device according to the present invention is that the information receiving unit is capable of receiving an input of an application of the environmental value from the prospective purchaser,
The application item creation unit creates the application item information including the necessary application items corresponding to the environmental value conditions and power conditions that match the application when the information receiving unit receives input of the application.

With the above-described characteristic configuration, prospective purchasers can input environmental value conditions and power conditions that match their intended use of the environmental value as demand information. In other words, prospective purchasers can input appropriate demand information even if they do not know exactly what environmental value and power are required by the specific system to which they wish to be subject in relation to the use of the environmental value.

Another characteristic configuration of the electricity trading intermediary device according to the present invention includes a buyer information storage unit that stores information about the buyer's past electricity usage,
The application item creation unit creates the required application items that indicate the upper limit of the electricity that the prospective purchaser can receive, which is determined based on information regarding the past electricity usage stored in the prospective purchaser information storage unit, and requests input of the electricity that the prospective purchaser wishes to receive as the electricity condition.

According to the above characteristic configuration, the application item creation unit creates a required application item that indicates the upper limit of the power that the potential purchaser can receive, determined based on information about past power usage stored in the potential purchaser information storage unit, and requests input of the desired power supply as a power condition. The information output unit then outputs the application item information created by the application item creation unit to the potential purchaser terminal. In other words, the potential purchaser can input the desired power supply after learning about their own actual power usage in the past.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a system including an energy trading intermediary device. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating each step of an energy trading intermediation method carried out between an energy trading intermediation device and a prospective buyer terminal. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a prospective purchaser terminal. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a prospective purchaser terminal. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a prospective purchaser terminal. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a prospective purchaser terminal. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a process for matching the amount of electricity a prospective purchaser desires to procure with the electricity to be provided. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a process for matching the amount of electricity a prospective purchaser desires to procure with the electricity to be provided. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a process for matching the amount of electricity a prospective purchaser desires to procure with the electricity to be provided. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a process for matching the amount of electricity a prospective purchaser desires to procure with the electricity to be provided.

An energy trading intermediary device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a system that includes an energy trade intermediary device 10. The energy trade intermediary system shown in Figure 1 includes the energy trade intermediary device 10 and a buyer terminal 1 used by a buyer. The energy trade intermediary device 10 and the buyer terminal 1 are connected to each other so that they can communicate with each other via an information communication line 2. For illustrative purposes, Figure 1 shows three buyer terminals 1A, 1B, and 1C.

The prospective purchaser terminal 1 is a computer device or the like equipped with a device main body 1a, a display unit 1b, and an input reception unit 1c. The device main body 1a houses an information processing unit, a communication unit, a memory unit, and the like. The prospective purchaser can access the energy trading intermediary device 10 by inputting information using the input reception unit 1c. The prospective purchaser can also check the information displayed on the display unit 1b.

The energy trading intermediary device 10 is a device that mediates the transfer of at least one of the environmental value provided by an environmental value provider and the electricity provided by an electricity provider to a potential buyer. In this embodiment, the potential buyer is an ordinary household or business that consumes electricity, or an electricity wholesaler that supplies electricity to others. The transfer of environmental value and electricity using the energy trading intermediary device 10 is not carried out before the electricity consumer consumes the electricity, but after the electricity consumer actually consumes the electricity.

An environmental value provider is, for example, an owner of environmental value (e.g., green power certificates, J-credits, non-fossil fuel certificates, etc.) or a person entrusted by such an owner with the transfer of environmental value, and who intends to provide the environmental value to prospective buyers via the electricity trading intermediary device 10.

An electricity provider may be, for example, a power generator or a business that purchases electricity from a power generator and sells it to another party.

The environmental value provider and the electricity provider may be different entities, or they may be the same entity. Also, the environmental value provider and the electricity provider may be the same entity, and the electricity trading intermediary device 10 may be operated by the same entity.

For example, if business operator X, the operator of the electricity trading intermediary device 10, also operates a power plant or an electricity retailer, then business operator X, the operator of the electricity trading intermediary device 10, can be both an environmental value provider and an electricity provider. Furthermore, business operator X's customers may also be potential buyers. In such cases, information such as the potential buyer's past electricity usage is already known to business operator X (in this case, the operator of the electricity trading intermediary device 10).

In another example, if a business operator Y, separate from business operator X, which operates the electricity trading intermediary device 10, also operates a power plant or a retail electricity supplier, then that business operator Y can be both an environmental value provider and an electricity provider. Furthermore, a customer of business operator Y may also be a potential buyer. In this case, since the potential buyer is not a customer of business operator X (in this case, the operator of the electricity trading intermediary device 10), information such as the potential buyer's past electricity usage is unknown to business operator X.

As such, the energy trading intermediary device 10, the environmental value provider, and the electricity provider may be various entities, and the present invention may be applied in both cases where the energy trading intermediary device 10, the environmental value provider, and the electricity provider are the same entity or different entities.

The energy trading intermediary device 10 comprises an environmental value information storage unit 15, a provided energy information storage unit 16, an information reception unit 12, and an extraction unit 13. Additionally, the energy trading intermediary device 10 of this embodiment further comprises an application item creation unit 14, an extracted information storage unit 17, a prospective buyer information storage unit 18, and an information output unit 11. The energy trading intermediary device 10 is implemented using one or more computers equipped with information processing functions, information input/output functions, information storage functions, and information communication functions. In this embodiment, a program (energy trading intermediation program) that causes the energy trading intermediary device 10 (computer) to implement functions such as the application item creation process, application item output process, demand information reception process, extraction process, extraction result output process, and storage process described below is installed in the energy trading intermediary device 10. The energy trading intermediation method of this embodiment is carried out by executing the energy trading intermediation program.

The environmental value information storage unit 15 stores environmental value information including information on environmental values that can be offered to prospective purchasers. For example, the environmental value information storage unit 15 is realized using an information storage function of a computer device that realizes the electricity trading intermediary device 10. The environmental values that can be offered to prospective purchasers include, for example, at least one of green power certificates, J-credits, non-fossil fuel certificates, etc.
In this embodiment, a non-fossil certificate will be described as an example of environmental value, but the same applies to other tradable items such as green power certificates and J-credits.

The environmental value information stored in the environmental value information storage unit 15 is information received from environmental value providers.

In this embodiment, non-fossil certificates as environmental value can be classified, for example, into FIT non-fossil certificates and non-FIT non-fossil certificates (with renewable energy designation, without renewable energy designation), etc.

FIT Non-Fossil Certificates are non-fossil certificates that accompany electricity purchased in accordance with the FIT system. Therefore, the rights to FIT Non-Fossil Certificates belong to GIO (Genomic Investment Organization), and are traded on the non-fossil value trading market. In other words, they may be traded as non-fossil certificates alone.

Non-FIT Non-Fossil Certificates are non-fossil certificates that accompany electricity that has environmental value, even though it is not purchased in accordance with the FIT system. Of these, Non-FIT Non-Fossil Certificates (with renewable energy designation) are those generated from renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power, while Non-FIT Non-Fossil Certificates (without renewable energy designation) are those not generated from renewable energy sources such as nuclear power.

Non-fossil fuel certificates are assigned attribute information. For example, attribute information such as the type of certificate (FIT certificate, non-FIT (with renewable energy designation), non-FIT (without renewable energy designation)), tracking status, power plant name, power plant operation date (first parallel date: the first day electricity began being transmitted to the grid), prefecture and municipality where the power plant is located, power generation method (PV, wind, biomass), power generation fuel (only when biomass is selected), power plant owner, rated output, whether the certificate and electricity must be purchased as a set, amount of electricity (kWh) and timing, and procurer are assigned to non-fossil fuel certificates.

The provided power information storage unit 16 stores provided power information including information related to the provided power that can be provided to prospective buyers. For example, the provided power information storage unit 16 is implemented using an information storage function provided in a computer device that implements the energy trading intermediary device 10. For example, the provided power information includes attribute information such as the amount of power (kWh) and the time of power generation. This provided power information can be obtained by receiving information about the power supplied to the transmission system from a power generator, which is obtained by the transmission system operator. Alternatively, this provided power information may be obtained from the power generator.

In this way, the energy trading intermediary device 10 can manage information on environmental value, such as non-fossil fuel certificates, that can be provided to prospective buyers, as well as information on the provided electricity. The energy trading intermediary device 10 can then provide prospective buyers with environmental value, such as non-fossil fuel certificates, electricity, or both, in response to their requests.

The information receiving unit 12 receives demand information from prospective buyers that includes at least the environmental value conditions, among the environmental value conditions that the environmental value they wish to provide must satisfy and the power conditions that the power they wish to provide must satisfy. The prospective buyers use the prospective buyer terminal 1 to input demand information that includes the environmental value conditions that the non-fossil fuel certificate must satisfy and the power conditions that the power they wish to provide must satisfy, in accordance with the laws, global initiatives, and other systems that the prospective buyers desire, and then transmit this demand information to the energy trading intermediary device 10. As a result, the information receiving unit 12 of the energy trading intermediary device 10 can receive demand information from prospective buyers.

The extraction unit 13 extracts, from the information stored in the environmental value information storage unit 15 and the provided electricity information storage unit 16, combinations of information on environmental value and information on provided electricity that satisfy the environmental value conditions and the electricity conditions contained in the demand information received from a specific prospective purchaser.

The extracted information storage unit 17 associates and stores a combination of information about environmental value extracted by the extraction unit 13 and information about provided electricity. In this case, the extracted information storage unit 17 stores the combination of information about environmental value extracted by the extraction unit 13 and information about provided electricity in a state in which tamper-proof measures have been implemented. For example, it is preferable that the extracted information storage unit 17 stores the information in the storage units of multiple computer devices connected to each other so that they can communicate with each other, using technology such as blockchain.

The buyer information storage unit 18 stores information about the past electricity usage of buyers. The buyer information storage unit 18 also stores the name of the buyer, the buyer's ID, and an authentication password for accessing the electricity trading intermediary device 10. Table 1 below shows an example of information about the past electricity usage stored for each of multiple buyers.

In the example shown in Table 1, information about the prospective purchaser's past power usage is stored for each 30-minute period of a day, such as power usage for 30 minutes from 0:00 (midnight) and power usage for 30 minutes from 0:30 (midnight).

As described above, if business operator X, the operator of the electricity trading intermediary device 10, also operates a power plant or an electricity retailer, then business operator X, the operator of the electricity trading intermediary device 10, can be both an environmental value provider and an electricity provider. Business operator X's customers may also be potential buyers. In such cases, business operator X (in this case, the operator of the electricity trading intermediary device 10) may obtain information on the past power usage of each of these potential buyers from information on past power purchases by the potential buyers obtained by the power transmission system operator, and store that information in the potential buyer information storage unit 18.

Alternatively, if a different business operator Y from business operator X, which operates the energy trading intermediary device 10, also operates a power plant or a retail electricity supplier, then that business operator Y can be both an environmental value provider and an electricity provider. Furthermore, a customer of business operator Y may also be a potential buyer. In this case, the potential buyer is not a customer of business operator X (in this case, the operator of the energy trading intermediary device 10), and therefore information such as the potential buyer's past electricity usage is unknown to business operator X. In this case, the energy trading intermediary device 10 may obtain the information from business operator Y, or the potential buyer may access the energy trading intermediary device 10 and input information about their past electricity usage, thereby storing that information in the potential buyer information storage unit 18.

The information output unit 11 outputs information to the intended purchaser. The information output unit 11 outputs the information on environmental value and the information on provided electricity extracted by the extraction unit 13 in a format that can be confirmed by the intended purchaser. For example, the information output unit 11 transmits the combination of the information on environmental value and the information on provided electricity extracted by the extraction unit 13 to the intended purchaser terminal 1 of the corresponding intended purchaser ID so that the intended purchaser can confirm it on the intended purchaser terminal 1. Alternatively, the information output unit 11 prints and outputs the combination of the information on environmental value and the information on provided electricity extracted by the extraction unit 13 on a paper medium.

In addition, the information output unit 11 outputs the application item information created by the application item creation unit 14, including the necessary application items that the prospective purchaser should enter as demand information, to the prospective purchaser terminal 1 of the corresponding prospective purchaser ID.

The following describes the energy transaction intermediation method performed by the energy transaction intermediation device 10.
2 is a diagram illustrating each step of the electricity trading intermediation method. FIGS. 3 to 6 are diagrams illustrating examples of display screens on the prospective purchaser terminal 1.

In step #10 of Figure 2, a buyer operating the buyer terminal 1 who wishes to obtain a non-fossil fuel certificate and supplied electricity accesses the energy trading intermediary device 10 by entering information into the input reception unit 1c. Although not explained further, the buyer has already completed user registration with the energy trading intermediary device 10 and has obtained a buyer ID and password. The buyer then launches internet browser software or the like installed in the memory of the device main body 1a of the buyer terminal 1, and accesses a specified URL where the energy trading intermediation method service is provided. At that time, the buyer is authenticated by entering the buyer ID, password, etc. for that service.

In step #11, the application item creation unit 14 of the energy trading intermediary device 10 reads information associated with the relevant energy trading intermediary device ID (e.g., the name of the energy trading intermediary device) stored in the energy trading intermediary device information storage unit 18. The application item creation unit 14 then creates application item information including the necessary application items to be entered by the energy trading intermediary device as demand information (application item creation step). Next, the information output unit 11 transmits the application item information created by the application item creation unit 14 to the energy trading intermediary device 1 so that the necessary application items can be entered into the desired application items on the energy trading intermediary device 1 (application item output step). As a result, in step #12, the energy trading intermediary device 1 displays the application item information received from the energy trading intermediary device 10 on the display unit 1b.

Figure 3 shows an example of a screen displayed on the display unit 1b of the prospective purchaser terminal 1, displaying application information, including required application items to be entered by the prospective purchaser. In the example shown in Figure 3, the prospective purchaser's name and prospective purchaser ID are listed in the prospective purchaser information display field 20. Additionally, Figure 3 displays a field requesting the user to enter the intended use of the non-fossil fuel certificate as one of the environmental values. The intended use input field 21 lists the options RE100, Global Warming Countermeasures Act, Zero Emissions, and Optional, with check boxes 21a, 21b, 21c, and 21d corresponding to RE100, Global Warming Countermeasures Act, Zero Emissions, and Optional, respectively. RE100 is one of the global initiatives promoting 100% renewable energy use by companies, Global Warming Countermeasures Act is an abbreviation for the Act on Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures, and Zero Emissions is an abbreviation for Zero Emissions (zero carbon dioxide emissions). Furthermore, Figure 3 displays an input field 22 for entering whether or not to set details, along with check boxes 22a and 22b. If "Set details (check box 22a)" is selected, the prospective purchaser will be required to enter several items of demand information, as shown in Figures 4 and 5 below.

For example, if a prospective purchaser selects a specific use such as RE100, the Global Warming Act, or zero emissions on the screen shown in Figure 3 and selects "Set details (check box 22a)," the prospective purchaser will be required to enter demand information for items that match that use, as illustrated in Figure 4, which will be described later. On the other hand, if a prospective purchaser selects a specific use such as RE100, the Global Warming Act, or zero emissions on the screen shown in Figure 3 and selects "Do not set details (check box 22b)," the screens shown in Figures 4 and 5, which will be described later, will not be displayed, and the extraction results by the extraction unit 13, as illustrated in Figure 6, which will be described later, will be displayed to the prospective purchaser.

In the screen shown in Figure 3, if a specific use such as RE100, the Global Warming Countermeasures Act, or zero emissions is not to be specified, "Optional (check box 21d)" can be selected. In this case, for example, "Set details (check box 22a)" is automatically selected, and "Do not set details (check box 22b)" cannot be selected, and the prospective purchaser will be required to enter a number of items of demand information, as exemplified in Figure 5 below.

In step #13, the prospective purchaser operating the prospective purchaser terminal 1 inputs a selection from RE100, Global Warming Act, Zero Emissions, or Any, as well as an input to set whether to set details, using the input reception unit 1c, and then selects the send button 23. As a result, for example, the use of the non-fossil fuel certificate as one of the input demand information is sent to the electricity trading intermediary device 10.

In step #14, the energy trading intermediary device 10 receives the input results from the prospective buyer. That is, the information receiving unit 12 can receive input from the prospective buyer about the use of the non-fossil fuel certificate. Then, in step #15, the extraction unit 13 of the energy trading intermediary device 10 determines whether or not additional items to be entered need to be sent to the prospective buyer terminal 1, and extracts combinations of information about non-fossil fuel certificates that satisfy the environmental value conditions and the power conditions included in the demand information received from the prospective buyer, and information about the provided electricity, from the information stored in the environmental value information storage unit 15 and the provided electricity information storage unit 16. In the example screen of Figure 3, the prospective purchaser has entered the use of the non-fossil fuel certificate (RE100) as one piece of demand information and selected "Set details (check box 22a)." Therefore, the extraction unit 13 determines that additional items to be entered need to be sent to the prospective purchaser terminal 1, and the process moves to step #11, where the application item creation unit 14 determines application item information including necessary application items corresponding to the environmental value conditions and power conditions that match the use (RE100) selected and input by the prospective purchaser, and the information output unit 11 again sends this information to the prospective purchaser terminal 1.

Figure 4 shows an example of a screen that prompts the user to enter the necessary input items for using a Non-Fossil Energy Certificate for RE100, as shown in Figure 3 when "RE100" and "Set Details" are selected. In this way, the potential purchaser need only enter the necessary input items for using a Non-Fossil Energy Certificate for RE100, rather than entering input items into numerous fields, as shown in Figure 5 (described below) (i.e., instead of entering input items not required for using a Non-Fossil Energy Certificate for RE100). As a result, the potential purchaser can enter the appropriate demand information and obtain an appropriate Non-Fossil Energy Certificate, even if they do not know exactly what Non-Fossil Energy Certificate and electricity are required under the specific system to which they wish to apply for the use of the Non-Fossil Energy Certificate. For example, the application item creation unit 14 pre-stores the required application items that the potential purchaser must enter as demand information for each use, such as RE100, the Global Warming Countermeasures Act, and zero emissions.

In the example screen shown in Figure 4, display field 24 indicates that a non-fossil fuel certificate has been selected for use with RE100. Additionally, input fields 25, 26, 27, 28, and 29 are displayed for each required application item, including the name of the power plant, the prefecture where the power plant is located, the city/town/village where the power plant is located, the power generation method (solar, wind, biomass, etc.), and the desired procurement amount. In this example, the application item creation unit 14 reads and displays the purchaser's past power usage (October 2019: 10,000 kWh) from the purchaser information storage unit 18, and prompts the purchaser to input the percentage of that amount they wish to procure. That is, the application item creation unit 14 indicates the upper limit of the power that the purchaser can receive (in Figure 4, "October 2019: 10,000 kWh"), which is determined based on the information on past power usage stored in the purchaser information storage unit 18, and creates a required application item requesting input of the desired power supply condition (in Figure 4, input of the percentage of the upper limit). The potential purchaser then inputs the percentage of the amount they wish to procure as a condition for their power supply. In other words, the potential purchaser can input the amount of power they wish to provide after learning about their own past power usage figures. After inputting the information, the potential purchaser selects the send button 30, which sends the demand information to the energy trading intermediary device 10.

Figure 5 shows an example of what happens when "Optional" and "Set details" are selected on the screen example shown in Figure 3. In this example, the following fields are displayed: certificate type (FIT certificate, non-FIT (with renewable energy designation), non-FIT (without renewable energy designation)), tracking enabled/disabled, power plant name, power plant operation date, prefecture where the power plant is located, city/town/village where the power plant is located, power generation method (solar, wind, biomass, etc.), power generation fuel (only when biomass is selected), power plant owner, rated output, whether the certificate and electricity must be purchased as a set, desired procurement quantity, and input fields 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, and 42 for each required application item of the purchaser.

The environmental value conditions that the desired non-fossil certificates must satisfy, which are included in the demand information entered by the prospective purchaser, include, for example, the type of certificate (FIT certificate, non-FIT (with renewable energy designation), non-FIT (without renewable energy designation)) displayed in input fields 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, and 42, whether tracking is enabled, the name of the power plant, the power plant operation date (first parallel date: the first day that electricity began to be transmitted to the grid), the prefecture where the power plant is located, the city/town/village where the power plant is located, the power generation method (PV, wind, biomass), the power generation fuel (only when biomass is selected), the power plant owner, the rated output, whether the certificate and electricity must be purchased as a set, the desired procurement amount, and the procurer.
The desired procurement amount displayed in the input field 41 corresponds to the power condition included in the demand information that the desired power to be provided must satisfy, as input by the purchaser.

The input field 31 for the certificate type displays check boxes 31a, 31b, and 31c corresponding to FIT certificate, non-FIT (with renewable energy designation), and non-FIT (without renewable energy designation), respectively. The input field 32 for whether tracking is enabled or disabled displays check boxes 32a and 32b corresponding to whether it is enabled or disabled, respectively. The input field 40 for the certificate and electricity set displays check boxes 40a and 40b corresponding to whether it is enabled or disabled, respectively.

In step #13, the prospective buyer operating the prospective buyer terminal 1 enters information into several of the required application fields using the input acceptance unit 1c, and then selects the send button 43. As a result, the entered demand information is sent to the energy trading intermediary device 10.

In step #14, the information receiving unit 12 of the energy trading intermediary device 10 receives the input results from the prospective buyer (demand information receiving step). Then, in step #15, the extraction unit 13 of the energy trading intermediary device 10 determines whether additional input items need to be sent to the prospective buyer terminal 1 (i.e., checks for input errors or insufficient input), and performs matching by extracting combinations of information about non-fossil fuel certificates that satisfy the environmental value conditions and the electricity conditions contained in the demand information received from the prospective buyer and information about provided electricity from the information stored in the environmental value information storage unit 15 and the provided electricity information storage unit 16 (extraction step). This extraction step performed by the extraction unit 13 may be performed by artificial intelligence. For example, the extraction unit 13 may extract combinations of information about non-fossil fuel certificates and information about provided electricity that are predicted to be desired by prospective buyers based on learning results. Alternatively, the extraction unit 13 may perform extraction so that as much of the provided power stored in the provided power information storage unit 16 as possible is provided to the wishing purchaser (i.e., so that as little provided power as possible remains in the provided power information storage unit 16 without being provided as possible). If the extraction unit 13 determines that additional items to be entered need to be sent to the wishing purchaser terminal 1 (if "Yes" in step #15), for example, because the information entered by the wishing purchaser is insufficient, the process proceeds to step #11, where the application item creation unit 14 creates application item information and the information output unit 11 sends the application item information to the wishing purchaser terminal 1.

On the other hand, if the extraction unit 13 determines that there is no need to send the additional items to be entered to the would-be buyer terminal 1 (if the answer is "No" in step #15), then in step #16 the information output unit 11 sends the combination of information about non-fossil fuel certificates and information about provided electricity extracted by the extraction unit 13 to the would-be buyer terminal 1 so that the buyer can check it on the would-be buyer terminal 1 (extraction result output step). If there are multiple candidate combinations of information about non-fossil fuel certificates and information about provided electricity extracted by the extraction unit 13, the information output unit 11 sends the candidate combinations to the would-be buyer terminal 1 so that the buyer can check them on the would-be buyer terminal 1 used by the would-be buyer and can select one of the multiple candidate combinations on the would-be buyer terminal 1. As a result, in step #17 the would-be buyer terminal 1 displays the information received from the energy trading intermediary device 10, i.e., the extraction results by the extraction unit 13, on the display unit 1b.

As mentioned above, if the prospective purchaser selects a specific use, such as RE100, the Global Warming Countermeasures Act, or zero emissions, on the screen shown in FIG. 3 and selects "Do not set details," the screen shown in FIG. 4 will not be displayed. For example, in step #15, the extraction unit 13 of the electricity trading intermediary device 10 determines that it is not necessary to send additional input items to the prospective purchaser terminal 1. In this case, the contents of each input item (demand information) in FIG. 4 that the prospective purchaser would have been required to input if "Set details" had been selected become unknown. However, the extraction unit 13 automatically determines the input contents for each input item (demand information), such as specifying all power plants for "Power Plant Name," all prefectures for "Prefecture Where Power Plant Is Located," all municipalities for "City Where Power Plant Is Located," all power generation methods for "Power Generation Method," and 100% of the prospective purchaser's past electricity usage for "Desired Procurement Amount," and then performs the same extraction step (step #16) as described above. In other words, if a prospective purchaser selects a specific use such as RE100, the Global Warming Countermeasures Act, or zero emissions, and selects "Do not set details," i.e., if the prospective purchaser enters the use of the non-fossil fuel certificate as part of the demand information, other environmental value conditions and power conditions such as the name of the power plant, the prefecture and municipality where the power plant is located, the power generation method, and the desired procurement amount will be deemed to have been entered. Note that this method of automatically determining the input content of the demand information is just one example, and the input content that the extraction unit 13 automatically determines can be set as appropriate.

Figure 6 is an example screen displaying the results of extraction by the extraction unit 13 on the display unit 1b of the prospective buyer terminal 1. In the example shown in Figure 6, there are three candidate combinations of information about non-fossil fuel certificates extracted by the extraction unit 13 and information about the electricity provided, so these three candidates are displayed. The display then prompts the prospective buyer to review and select from among them on the prospective buyer terminal 1. Specifically, the example screen in Figure 6 displays a display field 44 indicating that electricity provided by "XYZ Corporation" and the non-fossil fuel certificate combined with it are one of the candidates, a display field 45 indicating that electricity provided by "EFG Corporation" and the non-fossil fuel certificate combined with it are one of the candidates, and a display field 46 indicating that electricity provided by "HIJ Corporation" and the non-fossil fuel certificate combined with it are one of the candidates. In addition, display fields 44, 45, and 46 each display pull-down menus 44a, 45a, and 46a for entering a priority order.

Note that if there is only one combination of information about non-fossil fuel certificates and information about provided electricity extracted by the extraction unit 13, that one candidate is displayed on the screen shown in FIG. 6. In this way, if there are multiple candidate combinations of information about non-fossil fuel certificates and information about provided electricity extracted by the extraction unit 13, the potential purchaser can check those candidates on the potential purchaser terminal 1 and input a selection for one of those candidates on the potential purchaser terminal 1.

When the prospective buyer makes a selection for each candidate on the display screen of Figure 6 and presses the OK button 47, the input result is sent to the energy trading intermediary device 10 in step #18. If only one candidate is displayed, the prospective buyer may press the OK button 47, or may make a selection such as setting that candidate as the first priority and then press the OK button 47. In the example shown in Figure 6, the priority of "XYZ Corporation" is set to first, the priority of "HIJ Corporation" to second, and the priority of "EFG Corporation" to third, and the OK button 47 is then pressed. Then, in step #19, the information receiving unit 12 of the energy trading intermediary device 10 receives the input result by the prospective buyer, i.e., the combination of information related to the non-fossil fuel certificate and information related to the provided electricity determined by the selection input. The extraction unit 13 determines the combination of information related to the non-fossil fuel certificate and information related to the provided electricity determined by the prospective buyer's selection input received by the information receiving unit 12 as the final extraction result (extraction step). The extracted information storage unit 17 stores the confirmed information (i.e., the combination of information about the non-fossil fuel certificate and information about the provided electricity extracted by the extraction unit 13) (storage process). As a result, evidence can be kept in case the non-fossil fuel certificate and electricity are transferred to a potential purchaser.

Next, with reference to Figures 7 to 10, the process performed by the extraction unit 13 of the energy trading intermediary device 10 to match the amount of electricity purchased by the prospective buyer with the amount of electricity to be provided will be described. Figure 7 is a diagram showing an example of the amount of electricity purchased by the prospective buyer, stored in the prospective buyer information storage unit 18. Figure 8 is a diagram showing an example of the amount of electricity to be provided by the electricity provider, stored in the provided electricity information storage unit 16. Figure 9 is a diagram showing an example of the breakdown of the amount of electricity to be provided to the prospective buyer, stored in the extracted information storage unit 17. Figure 10 is a diagram showing an example of the amount of electricity to be provided by the electricity provider, stored in the provided electricity information storage unit 16.

In the example shown in FIG. 6, the potential purchaser makes a selection input for the three displayed candidates, setting the priority of "XYZ Corporation" to first, "HIJ Corporation" to second, and "EFG Corporation" to third. Therefore, the extraction unit 13 first satisfies the potential purchaser's desired procurement quantity with the power provided by "XYZ Corporation." Next, the extraction unit 13 satisfies the potential purchaser's remaining desired procurement quantity (the amount not yet satisfied) with the power provided by "EFG Corporation." Furthermore, the extraction unit 13 satisfies the potential purchaser's remaining desired procurement quantity (the amount not yet satisfied) with the power provided by "HIJ Corporation." As a result, the power to be provided to the potential purchaser is determined, as shown in FIG. 9. Then, the amount of power provided to the prospective purchaser as shown in FIG. 9 is subtracted from the amount of power provided by each power provider stored in the provided power information storage unit 16 as shown in FIG. 8, so that the provided power information storage unit 16 continues to store the provided power for which a recipient has not yet been determined, as shown in FIG. 10. Note that the amount of power provided by "LMN Corporation" stored in the provided power information storage unit 16 remains the same without being subtracted, as it is not being provided to a prospective purchaser.

Then, if necessary, the information output unit 11 prints out on paper the combination of information about the non-fossil certificates and information about the provided electricity extracted by the extraction unit 13, as determined as described above.

As described above, the environmental value information storage unit 15 can store environmental value information including information on non-fossil fuel certificates that can be provided to prospective purchasers, and the provided electricity information storage unit 16 can store provided electricity information including information on provided electricity that can be provided to prospective purchasers. The extraction unit 13 can then extract combinations of information on non-fossil fuel certificates and information on provided electricity that correspond to demand information received from prospective purchasers from the information stored in the environmental value information storage unit 15 and the provided electricity information storage unit 16. Therefore, it is possible to provide an electricity trading intermediary device 10 that can supply both non-fossil fuel certificates (an example of environmental value) and electricity in a manner that meets the needs of prospective purchasers.

<Another embodiment>
<1>
In the above embodiment, a specific example of the configuration of the energy trading intermediary device 10 of the present invention has been described, but the configuration can be modified as appropriate.

<2>
In the above embodiment, examples of display screens on the intending purchaser terminal 1 have been described, but these are merely examples and the contents thereof can be changed as appropriate.

<3>
In the above embodiment, the attribute information attached to the non-fossil certificate, the attribute information attached to the provided power, and the environmental value conditions and power conditions in the demand information can be changed as appropriate.

＜4＞
In the above embodiment, RE100, the Global Warming Act, and zero emissions are given as examples of uses of the non-fossil fuel certificate, but these are given for illustrative purposes only and can be changed as appropriate.

<5>
In the above embodiment, the matching performed by the extraction unit 13 between the power provided by the power provider and the power requested by the prospective buyer in the power conditions (demand information) may be performed by matching only the amount of power change patterns of both companies that match in 30-minute increments, for example, or by matching the amount of power that matches in total amount over a specified period longer than the above 30 minutes, for example.

<6>
In the above embodiment, the features of the present invention have been explained using several numerical values, but these numerical values are shown for illustrative purposes and can be changed as appropriate.

＜７＞
In the above embodiment, Fig. 6 shows an example of displaying candidates for combinations of information on non-fossil fuel certificates and information on provided electricity extracted by the extraction unit 13, but the description format for displaying the candidates can be set as appropriate. In other words, as long as the potential purchaser can recognize that the candidates are combinations of non-fossil fuel certificates and electricity and can distinguish the contents of each candidate from each other, the information used to display the contents of each candidate to the potential purchaser can be set as appropriate. For example, as long as the potential purchaser can recognize that the candidates are combinations of non-fossil fuel certificates and electricity, the candidates may be displayed in a description format that does not include either the information on non-fossil fuel certificates or the information on provided electricity.

＜8＞
The configurations disclosed in the above embodiments (including other embodiments, the same applies below) can be applied in combination with configurations disclosed in other embodiments, as long as no contradiction arises. Furthermore, the embodiments disclosed in this specification are examples, and the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to these and can be modified as appropriate within the scope that does not deviate from the purpose of the present invention.

This invention can be used in an electricity trading intermediary device that can supply both environmental value and electricity in a manner that meets the needs of potential buyers.

1 (1A, 1B, 1C) Purchaser terminal 1a Device main body 1b Display unit 1c Input reception unit 2 Information communication line 10 Energy trading intermediary device 11 Information output unit 12 Information reception unit 13 Extraction unit 14 Application item creation unit 15 Environmental value information storage unit 16 Provided electricity information storage unit 17 Extracted information storage unit 18 Purchaser information storage unit

Claims (7)

an environmental value information storage unit that stores environmental value information including information on environmental values that can be provided to prospective purchasers;
a provided power information storage unit that stores provided power information including information about provided power that can be provided to the purchaser;
an information output unit that outputs information to the potential purchaser;
an information receiving unit that receives demand information from the prospective purchaser, the demand information including environmental value conditions that the environmental value desired to be provided must satisfy and power conditions that the power desired to be provided must satisfy;
an extraction unit that extracts, from the information stored in the environmental value information storage unit and the provided electricity information storage unit, a combination of information on the environmental value that satisfies the environmental value conditions and the electricity conditions included in the demand information received from the intended purchaser, and information on the provided electricity;
an application item creation unit that creates application item information including necessary application items to be input by the intending purchaser as the demand information;
the information output unit outputs the application item information created by the application item creation unit to the wishing purchaser terminal used by the wishing purchaser so that the necessary application items can be inputted into the wishing purchaser terminal;
the information receiving unit is capable of receiving an input of an application of the environmental value from the prospective purchaser,
The application item creation unit is an electricity trading intermediary device that, when the information receiving unit receives input of the application, creates the application item information including the necessary application items corresponding to the environmental value conditions and power conditions that match the application. a purchaser information storage unit that stores information about the purchaser's past power usage,
2. The energy trading intermediary device according to claim 1, wherein the application item creation unit creates the required application items indicating an upper limit of the electricity that the wishing purchaser can receive, which is determined based on information about the past electricity usage stored in the wishing purchaser information storage unit , and requesting input of the desired provided electricity as the electricity condition. an environmental value information storage unit that stores environmental value information including information on environmental values that can be provided to prospective purchasers;
a provided power information storage unit that stores provided power information including information about provided power that can be provided to the purchaser;
an information output unit that outputs information to the potential purchaser;
an information receiving unit that receives demand information from the prospective purchaser, the demand information including environmental value conditions that the environmental value desired to be provided must satisfy and power conditions that the power desired to be provided must satisfy;
an extraction unit that extracts, from the information stored in the environmental value information storage unit and the provided electricity information storage unit, a combination of information on the environmental value that satisfies the environmental value conditions and the electricity conditions included in the demand information received from the intended purchaser, and information on the provided electricity;
an application item creation unit that creates application item information including necessary application items to be input by the intending purchaser as the demand information;
a purchaser information storage unit that stores information about the purchaser's past power usage,
the information output unit outputs the application item information created by the application item creation unit to the wishing purchaser terminal used by the wishing purchaser so that the necessary application items can be inputted into the wishing purchaser terminal;
The application item creation unit is an electricity trading intermediary device that creates the required application items, indicating an upper limit of the electricity that the prospective purchaser can receive, which is determined based on information regarding the past electricity usage stored in the prospective purchaser information storage unit, and requesting input of the desired provided electricity as the electricity condition. the information receiving unit is capable of receiving an input of an application of the environmental value from the prospective purchaser,
4. The energy trading intermediary device according to claim 3, wherein when the information receiving unit receives input of the intended use, the application item creation unit creates the application item information including the required application items corresponding to the environmental value conditions and the power conditions that match the intended use. The energy trading intermediary device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising an extracted information storage unit that stores a combination of the information on the environmental value extracted by the extraction unit and the information on the provided electricity. when there are a plurality of candidate combinations of the information on the environmental value and the information on the provided electricity extracted by the extraction unit, the information output unit outputs the plurality of candidate combinations to the willing purchaser terminal so that the candidate combinations can be confirmed on the willing purchaser terminal and a selection input for the plurality of candidate combinations can be made on the willing purchaser terminal;
the information receiving unit receives a combination of the information about the environmental value determined by the selection input and the information about the provided electricity;
The energy trading intermediary device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the extraction unit sets a combination of the information on the environmental value and the information on the provided electricity received by the information receiving unit as a final extraction result. The energy trading intermediary device described in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the environmental value includes at least one of a non-fossil fuel certificate, a green power certificate, and a J-credit.