GE Financially Backing 230 MW Solar PV Power Plant In Japan

GE Energy Financial Services — the energy arm of US conglomerate General Electric (GE) — recently announced that it will be financially backing a massive 230 MW solar PV power plant currently being slated to be constructed in the Japanese city of Setouchi.

The US-based GE is planning to invest between JPY 10-20 billion yen ($100-200 million) into the project — representing a substantial percentage of the total project costs of $777 million dollars. The Setouchi-based solar power project will be Japan’s largest once completed.

Image Credit: Setouchi via Wikimedia Commons

As the investment is for the running of the plant, it will grant GE a majority stake in the company that will operate the plant — Tokyo-based Kuni Umi Asset Management.

As it stands currently, the 230 MW Okayama Province based power plant is set to begin operations in 2018 — greatly boosting the solar energy capacity of the country at that point. The largest solar power plant now in operation in the country is a 70 MW installation located on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu.

The exact details of the deal are, of course, not completely clear yet, but GE Energy Financial Services did confirm that it will be an equity investment.

“Because documents about this project have been publicly disclosed by the Setouchi municipal assembly, we can confirm that if certain conditions are met, GE plans to invest in the solar power project,” GE spokesman Andy Katell told Reuters in an interview.

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