JGC launches Japan’s largest solar power project

In 2010, JGC invested in two 100,000 kW concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in Spain, which came into commercial operation in February this year.

JGC Corporation (Yokohama, Japan) has announced plans to build a 26.5 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Oita City, Japan, in an industrial district owned by Nissan Motor Company Ltd. (Yokohama, Japan).

JGC Corporation announced today that it will be joining Japan’s largest-scale mega-solar photovoltaic power generation project to date, located in the seaside industrial district of Oita City, Oita Prefecture. This is the first domestic solar power project JGC has taken part in, and when the plant begins to generate electricity for the commercial power grid (schedule for May 2013), it will be the largest capacity mega-solar plant in Japan.

The plant will be constructed on 350,000 square meters of land in Oita City’s seaside industrial district owned by Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. The plant will have a power generating capacity of 26,500 kW (annual electricity generated will provide the equivalent power for roughly 9,000 typical households), and the power generated will be sold to Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc. under Japan’s feed-in tariff system.

Plant management will be undertaken by a special-purpose company wholly-owned by JGC, which will manage the plant for twenty years, from the start of commercial ?operation in May 2013. The cost of the project will total about 8 billion yen, which will be financed through a project finance contract with Mizuho Corporate Bank, Oita Bank, Howa Bank, and Fukuoka Bank. This project is the first mega-solar project in Japan to be financed through a project finance scheme. Construction work for this plant will be undertaken by a consortium of JGC’s subsidiary JGC Plant Solutions and Yonden Engineering Co., Inc. In addition, JGC Plant Solutions will take charge of facilities maintenance for the plant, making this project a major internal collaboration of the JGC Group.

In 2010, JGC invested in two 100,000 kW concentrating solar power (CSP) plants in Spain, which came into commercial operation in February this year. JGC has also been testing solar photovoltaic technology at a demonstration plant in Saudi Arabia since 2011. Through this new solar power project in Japan, JGC hopes to draw on previous experience in solar power while further building know-how, and taking full advantage of this important chance to expand the field of renewable energy. Demand for electricity is increasing not only within Japan, but worldwide, and JGC is planning to more fully contribute to the development of sustainable power generation both within and outside of Japan.

Currently, JGC is expanding its technical and project management capabilities through engineering work on energy plants, especially mega-scale plant projects overseas, as well as through work on planning and feasibility studies for “smart communities” in India and other emerging countries. Through the start of this solar photovoltaic plant project, JGC hopes to further contribute not only to the promotion of renewable energy, but also to develop technical experience that can be applied toward electric automobiles and environmentally friendly urban infrastructure for “smart communities.” In the future, JGC hopes to more fully develop smart community planning, to help realize an environmentally sustainable society.

http://www.jgc.co.jp/en