Japan’s largest energy company, Jera, has partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to enhance collaboration on digital innovation and energy solutions.

As part of the agreement, the two companies will collaborate on several initiatives. Within the digital space, Jera will look to optimize its value chain through the use of AWS’ suite of AI and cloud technologies.

This will include enhancing the Internet of Things (IoT) platforms that manage Jera’s power plants in Japan and analyzing their vast amount of operational data to enable faster anomaly detection, according to Jera. In addition, Jera said it plans to build an unstructured data platform on AWS to enhance the company’s maintenance practices.

Within the energy space, the companies will collaborate on developing “diverse energy solutions,” including renewable energy systems to power AWS facilities worldwide, including data centers.

“AI plays a central role in supporting the foundations of society, and its importance is steadily rising. Meanwhile, the broader adoption of these technologies has brought to light new social challenges, most notably the rapid increase in energy demand,” said Junya Tawa, Jera’s chief strategy officer. “Addressing this challenge will require closer collaboration between technology and energy companies - two sectors that have historically operated independently. I am confident that our collaboration with Amazon will be a significant step toward developing innovative solutions that support sustainable growth and deliver new value to society.”

“Amazon has a goal to reach net-zero carbon across our operations by 2040, and we're pleased to collaborate with Jera to discuss diverse energy solutions, including renewable energy,” added Hiroyuki Tsutsumi, director of the enterprise business unit at AWS Japan. “We're also proud that AWS cloud services, including generative AI capabilities, will continue to support Jera's digital transformation and accelerate its energy transition efforts. AWS looks forward to the collaboration with Jera to drive innovation toward a more sustainable future.”

The deal with AWS is not Jera’s first with a major US hyperscaler. In September of last year, the company signed a 15MW virtual Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Google to supply non-fossil fuel certificates to a Google data center in Inzai, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

Jera is Japan's largest power generation company, with more than 67GW of capacity in operation or under construction. The company has both thermal generation and renewable assets, intending to install 20GW of renewable capacity by 2035.

Recent years have seen AWS sign several renewable energy agreements in Japan. In January of last year, the company signed two PPAs with EDP Renewables APAC and X-Elio. Before this, in August 2024, the hyperscaler signed a PPA with Eneos Renewable Energy for energy from a 9.5MW solar project in Kudamatsu City, Yamaguchi, Japan.

AWS entered the Japanese market in 2009. In 2011, it launched its first cloud region in Tokyo, and launched its second in Osaka a decade later.

In January 2024, it announced plans to invest 2.26 trillion yen ($15.24 billion) in expanding its cloud computing infrastructure in Japan by 2027.