News Release

Launch of Japan’s First Energy Service for Households Using Storage Battery Rental
―Pre-Orders Accepted from April 26, Service to Be Rolled Out Progressively from June 1―

Apr 25, 2013

TOKYO, Japan - April 25, 2013 - ORIX Corporation (hereinafter, "ORIX"), NEC Corporation (hereinafter, "NEC"), and EPCO Incorporated (hereinafter, "EPCO") today announced that joint venture ONE ENERGY CORPORATION (hereinafter, "ONE ENERGY") will launch an energy service for households combining storage battery rental and a smart house app. Pre-orders will be accepted from April 26, 2013 for this service in the service area of Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated (Note 1). ONE ENERGY will push ahead with provision of this service and begin progressively installing batteries from June 1, 2013.

This is Japan's first service (Note 2) for the provision of a system via a rental agreement. It will use cloud data links to connect NEC-made fixed storage batteries (capacity: 5.53 kWh) for ordinary households with "pipipa" a smart house app developed by EPCO. The system can be provided irrespective of whether a detached house is new or old, has a home energy management system (HEMS), or has solar power generation equipment.

Storage Battery Rental Plans
(1) Basic plan: initial cost ¥0, monthly fee (excl. tax) ¥4,900 (¥5,145 incl. tax) (Notes 3, 4, and 6)
(2) Tokyo-only plan: initial cost ¥0, monthly fee (excl. tax) ¥2,900 (¥3,045 incl. tax) (Notes 3, 4 and 5)

Storage Battery Rental Plan + Roof Rental Solar Power Generation Plan
ONE ENERGY will rent the roofs of detached houses owned by customers using this service for a set fee and install solar panels for generating solar power. Customers will be able to use this service for an effective cost of ¥0 (Note 9) by combining the power bill savings from the introduction of this service (Note 7) and the rental income from the Roof Rental Solar Power Generation Plan (Note 8).


Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, residential households in Japan have been increasingly conscious of saving power and reducing their power bills due to electricity price hikes. Furthermore, there has been a strong desire to popularize the use of storage batteries that can ensure electricity and maintain lifelines during an emergency as a disaster preparedness measure (Note 10).

Against this backdrop, this service will aid in creating a new lifestyle where electricity is stored efficiently and used wisely in residential households. For example, it will allow them to check electricity use with smartphones and guide them to achieve optimum electricity savings. At the same time, this service will play an important role as a source of electricity in emergencies.

Moreover, the full liberalization of electricity retailing in Japan (planned for 2016) approved by the cabinet in April 2013 is expected to herald an era in which households can choose their electricity supply source. In the future, demand for this service could conceivably rise further as the choices widen for ordinary households to purchase electricity.

Looking ahead, ONE ENERGY aims to solicit for sales agents such as home builders, home renovators, building contractors and cooperate with business partners including energy related companies, in order to promote the installation of storage batteries to make both new and existing detached houses in Japan "smarter." In this way, ONE ENERGY aims to provide this service to 10,000 households in the year ending March 2014 and to 100,000 households in the year ending March 2016.

This service should also contribute to the realization of a new energy society in which ordinary citizens play an integral role through the introduction of new ways of saving power under the smart city concept, which local governments nationwide are embracing.

ONE ENERGY will promote the creation of new world-class services centered on fixed lithium-ion storage batteries by investigating and implementing various partner business models fusing storage batteries and ICT and using so-called Big Data.

Overview of ONE ENERGY
1. Company ONE ENERGY CORPORATION
2. Representative Kazuo Kojima, President and Representative Director
3. Head Office 14-23, Roppongi 7-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
4. Established March 4, 2013
5. Capita ¥1.5 billion
6. URL http://one.energy.orix.co.jpOpen Link in New Window
7. Shareholders ORIX Corporation (70.2%), NEC Corporation (14.9%) and EPCO Incorporated (14.9%)
8. Business Activities rading and rental of storage batteries; provision of services related to visualization of customer electricity usage, electricity saving, energy conservation, saving of electricity bills, etc. and other energy usage.

Note 1: Tokyo (excl. Tosho-bu), Kanagawa Prefecture, Chiba Prefecture, Saitama Prefecture, Tochigi
    Prefecture, Gunma Prefecture, Ibaraki Prefecture, Yamanashi Prefecture, and parts of Shizuoka
    Prefecture
Note 2: As of April 25, 2013, SVP JAPAN Co., Ltd survey
Note 3: There may be an initial cost depending on the resident’s abode.
Note 4: The monthly rental charge is a fee only for customers who apply via a company-designated sales
   agent. Customers must meet the eligibility requirements of “Subsidy for operating costs pertaining
   to stationary lithium ion storage battery boosting measures.” A customer may not terminate the
   contract during the contract period (10 years).
Note 5: The subsidy conditions for the Tokyo area only (e.g. HEMS installation) must be fulfilled.
Note 6: Even customers in regions outside Tokyo may get plans for around ¥3,000, such as by
   customizing packages available only in certain regions, occupational fields and time periods. This
   includes benefit packages of companies that provide some of the housing allowance as a
   charging allowance, monetary contributions by some home builders, and some subsidies from
   local governments and consortiums with smart town concepts.
Note 7: Introduction of this service is expected to reduce monthly electricity bills by between
   approximately ¥2,500 and ¥3,000 based on the average electricity usage of ordinary households
   (Annual electricity usage volume for household of 4 people is 7,160 kWh. Source: Agency of
   Natural Resources and Energy, 2011 Energy Consumption Status Survey), due to the use of the
   difference between daytime and nighttime electricity rates and changes in electricity contract
   plans (Estimate by ONE ENERGY). However, savings will differ depending on customer electricity
   usage, and contract details with a customer’s electricity utility.
Note 8: A rental agreement will be made if a detached house meets the installation conditions specified by
   ONE ENERGY (in terms of roof shape, direction, electricity generation volume, etc.). A household
   will receive rental income of approximately \2,500 (monthly) when 4 kW solar panels are installed
   on a south-facing roof. A customer may not terminate the contract during the contract period (10
   years).
Note 9: The actual monthly cost for a consumer will be \0 depending on the conditions in Notes 7 and 8.
Note 10: Storage battery strategy (6th meeting of The Council on National Strategy and Policy materials,
Fiscal 2012)
  
http://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/npu/policy04/pdf/20120705/sanko_shiryo1.pdfOpen PDF in New Window[PDF:789KB](In Japanese)
  Fiscal 2013 Tokyo Initiative on Smart Energy Saving (Environment of Tokyo website)
  
http://www.kankyo.metro.tokyo.jp/energy/tochi_energy_suishin/ Open PDF in New Window (In Japanese)


Reference Materials
■System Configuration Diagram (Introduction Example)

■Smart House App (pipipa)
pipipa, a smart house app, allows householders to visualize their home electricity use and optimize power savings via their smartphones.

[Features]
・Check household electricity usage, storage battery operating status, and solar power generation output.
・Automated control of storage battery operation for achieving optimum power savings by using various functions. These include a solar power generation simulation function linked to weather forecasts, an electricity consumption forecast function based on electrical drawings and lifestyle, and a power saving navigation function according to electricity supply and consumption forecasts.
・Can use a combination of storage batteries and pipipa, or a combination of storage batteries, a solar power generation system and pipipa.
・Incorporates a convenient, interactive HEMS via simple operation with a smartphone.

Configuration
 

■Roof Rental Solar Power Generation Service

This is a plan whereby ONE ENERGY rents the roof of a detached house owned by a customer using this storage battery rental service. The customer receives a fixed rental income for 20 years.

[Rental Conditions (Partial Excerpt)]
(1) House: Storage batteries can be installed, and there is a south-facing roof
(2) Panel target: 4 kW or more
Region: Annual projected total power generation per 1 kW panel

■Compact Power Storage
System Specifications

*An example of Installation to an actual detached house

■Field Trial in Tohoku
In the fiscal year ended March 2013, NEC and ORIX conducted a business subsidized by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry "R&D Project for the Creation of IT Integration-based New Industries" (Development of a base for an industry-academia-government consortium on IT integration). At this joint business, NEC developed a distributed energy management and control system technology using storage batteries. Preparations are now being made to roll out services, such as a demand-response service, in the future in order to reap the same benefits as controlling peak-time electricity usage, by controlling storage batteries installed in individual homes, offices and other places.

References: Related Press Releases
・NEC and ORIX Commence Development and Field Trials of Distributed Energy Management and Control System Technology Using Storage Batteries
(ORIX, NEC)
http://www.orix.co.jp/grp/en/news/2012/120301_ORIXE.html

・ORIX, NEC and EPCO Announce Consideration of Joint Energy Service Business Renting Residential Storage Batteries
(ORIX, NEC, EPCO)
http://www.orix.co.jp/grp/en/news/2012/121003_ORIXE.html

Contact Information
ORIX Corporation, Corporate Planning Department
TEL : +81-3-5419-5042 / Fax : +81-3-5419-5901
URL : http://www.orix.co.jp/grp/en/

NEC Corporation
Seiichiro Toda
TEL : +81-3-3798-6511 / E-mal : s-toda@cj.jp.nec.com

EPCO Corporation
Yoshihara or Harasawa
TEL : +81-3-5244-6388 / E-mal : yoshihara@epco.jp, harasawa@epco.jp

About ORIX
ORIX Corporation (TSE: 8591; NYSE: IX) is an integrated financial services group based in Tokyo, Japan, providing innovative value-added products and services to both corporate and retail customers. With operations in 28 countries and regions worldwide, ORIX’s activities include corporate financial services, such as leases and loans, as well as automobile operations, rental operations, real estate, life insurance, banking and loan servicing. For more details, please visit our website at:  http://www.orix.co.jp/grp/en/

About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. By providing a combination of products and solutions that cross utilize the company's experience and global resources, NEC's advanced technologies meet the complex and ever-changing needs of its customers. NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to empower people, businesses and society. For more information, visit NEC at http://www.nec.com.
NEC is a registered trademark of NEC Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Other product or service marks mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners. (R)2012 NEC Corporation.

About EPCO Corporation(JASDAQ2311, website at: http://www.epco.co.jp/Open Link in New Window
We function as the equipment planning division for housing companies, providing comprehensive support from equipment design-work, arrangement of components delivery to individual construction sites, and moreover ongoing maintenance.
EPCO systems were introduced to 70,000 households in Japan during 2011.

These documents may contain forward-looking statements about expected future events and financial results that involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements are based on our current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, those described under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and under “4. Risk Factors” of the “Summary of Consolidated Financial Results” of the “Consolidated Financial Results April 1, 2011– March 31, 2012.”

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