The New Role of Electric Power Systems in Society 5.0: Harnessing the future of the human-centered industrial revolution through electrification of the globe.

This article examines the evolving role of electric power systems in Society 5.0, focusing on Japan’s transition toward decarbonization, decentralization, and digitalization amid demographic changes. Drawing parallels between industrial revolutions and human biological systems, it proposes integrating power and digital infrastructures to create a meshlike regional infrastructure supporting autonomous mobility and automated heating. The paper introduces TEPCO Power Grid’s comprehensive platform initiatives, including an energy data platform, asset platform, and human resources platform. It presents a novel distributed energy market design coupled with a national electricity market, enabling efficient price signals and autonomous social regulation through market mechanisms, similar to biological homeostasis.