SoftBank unit starts building 22 MW in Japan

It will take a 50% stake in the installation, while Tokyo-based financial services provider JA Mitsui Leasing will hold the other 50%, according to an online statement. The completed PV array will stretch across 46.6 hectares of land, with annual electricity generation expected to meet the needs of roughly 7,400 homes.

The renewables developer, a subsidiary of Japanese telecoms group SoftBank, expects to wrap up construction in the town of Kunitomi by fiscal 2019. The rural community is also the home of Tokyo-based thin-film PV supplier Solar Frontier’s 900 MW flagship production site.

SB Energy already operates 1.4 MW of solar capacity in Miyazaki, near the small city of Ebino. In addition to the 22.4 MW array it is building in Kunitomi, it is currently building 64.6 MW of solar capacity on the other end of the country, on the northern island of Hokkaido. It expects to complete that project, which will be located in the town of Abira, by fiscal 2020, according to its website.

In total, it claims to have more than 500 MW of solar in operation or in varying stages of development throughout Japan. In addition to developing its own projects, it also acquires operational PV arrays from other companies.

In April, the SoftBank group finished a 350 MW solar installation in India. It built the project in the state of Andhra Pradesh in cooperation with New Delhi-based conglomerate Bharti Enterprises and Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn.