Total begins work on 52 MW solar park in Japan

From pv magazine France.

The 52 MW generation capacity solar project Total Solar International has started work on in Japan will use 116,000 high-efficiency Maxeon solar panels supplied by U.S. manufacturer SunPower, whose majority shareholder happens to be Total Group.

The plant, designed to meet Japan’s stringent seismic design standards, will be owned and operated by Miyagi Osato Solar, a special purpose vehicle owned 90% by Total Solar International and 10% by SB Energy Corp, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japan’s SoftBank Group.

“Miyagi Osato Solar Park is the third and largest solar power plant [operated by] Total in Japan, bringing our cumulative solar capacity in the country to more than 100 MW,” the company said in a statement. “This project is part of Total’s ambition to develop renewable electricity production capacity internationally; particularly in Japan, where we are actively pursuing our development,” said Julien Pouget, renewables director at Total.

In Japan, Total Solar built the 25 MW Miyako Solar Park this year and the 27 MW Nanao Solar Park in 2017. The Miyako plant is jointly owned with Chubu Electric Power Co Inc, one of Japan’s largest electric utilities.

Total said it is developing a low-carbon portfolio with the aim of clean power representing 15-20% of the group’s sales mix by 2040. The low carbon electricity generation capacity claimed by the oil group amounts to almost 7 GW and includes more than 3 GW of renewables capacity.

The fossil fuel company said in June 2018, as France launched its Solar Plan, it wanted to develop 10 GW of solar capacity in France by 2030.

By Joel Spaes