Japan’s sixth solar auction concludes with lowest bid of $0.095/kWh
Around 368.8 MW of PV projects were allocated in the sixth round of Japan’s procurement program for large-scale solar. The lowest price offered was ¥10.00/kWh ($0.095) and the highest ¥12.00, for an average price of ¥11.49.
Japan’s largest solar-plus-storage plant is now operational
Softbank has energized a 102.3 MW solar park backed by 27 MWh of lithium ion storage capacity. The project was built on 132 hectares of land near the town of Yakumo, in the northern island of Hokkaido.
Solar-powered hydrogen production in Japan
Toshiba has finalized construction of a 10 MW hydrogen plant in Fukushima prefecture which draws power from 20 MW of solar generation capacity as well as the grid.
Japan’s fifth solar auction delivers final lowest price of $0.10/kWh
Only 39.8 MW of PV projects were allocated in the fifth round of Japan’s procurement program for large-scale solar. The lowest price offered was ¥10.99/kWh ($0.10) and the highest ¥13.0, for an average price of ¥12.57.
Total begins work on 52 MW solar park in Japan
The Total Solar International PV unit of the French oil giant has started construction of a large scale plant in Osato, in the prefecture of Miyagi, Japan. With its third solar project in Japan, Total will reach 100 MW of installed generation capacity in less than two years.
Solar and wind make coal unprofitable in Japan
Recent investments into 11 GW of new coal generation capacity may result in reduced operating cashflows of $71 billion. That will occur, according to a report from the Carbon Tracker Institute, because solar and wind will become cheaper than coal in Japan by 2025 at the latest, despite high renewable energy costs at present.
Japan’s fourth solar auction concludes with lowest bid of $0.098/kWh
The tender produced lower bids than previous rounds but again allocated less generation capacity than planned. The Japanese government initially accepted bids for a combined 589.9 MW but ended up assigning only 195.8 MW of capacity. The final average price for procured solar power was $0.1222/kWh.
Another 300 MW solar auction for Japan
The procurement exercise, which closes tomorrow, will be open to projects larger than 500 kW in size. The results will be announced on September 3.
Distributed generation the main driver for solar in Japan and the Philippines
Two reports have concluded rooftop solar may replace PV parks as the main growth driver in the two big Asian markets over the next decade. Support programs for utility scale PV in both countries no longer seem attractive enough.
Solar Frontier becomes a unit of Idemitsu
The Japanese CIS solar module maker has been acquired — along with its parent company, Showa Shell Sekiyu — through a share exchange by Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu. The transaction was announced in mid-October, while the preliminary agreement was signed in July.
