Solar Frontier & Goldman Sachs-Affiliate Japan Renewable Energy Developing 300 MW Of Solar PV Projects

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

Solar Frontier is partnering with the Goldman Sachs-affiliate Japan Renewable Energy to develop 300 megawatts of new solar photovoltaic projects in Japan within the next 5 years, according to recent reports.

As there are actually a roughly 57 gigawatts (GW) pipeline of solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in the country that have yet to go forward despite being awarded feed-in-tariff (FiT) contracts in recent years, the 300 megawatts (MW) of projects noted above isn’t that notable on its own except that it includes some of these previously unexecuted projects, which can now be developed for less than was previously estimated, according to those involved.

Solar frontier

The news of the development plans was confirmed by the general manager of corporate communications for Solar Frontier, Hideki Gakumazawa, in an interview with PV Tech. Here are some further details via that coverage:

The pair claim the partnership will enable them to reduce the project cost of large-scale PV plants by as much as 30%. Selling electricity from the plants at fixed rates for 20 years, the pair’s projects will utilize Solar Frontier panels, subcontracting the construction work to a number of parties while reducing construction times. Solar Frontier will also be acquiring balance of systems components, mounting racks and other related items. Gakumazawa confirmed that the joint effort is interested in acquiring projects where the original developers have withdrawn interest.

Under Japan’s FiT rules, developers must submit the list of equipment they will use on their projects at the application stage, with the equipment to come from a METI-approved list of suppliers. Changing from the equipment originally registered for the project means that the project’s owner will receive a later FiT rate.

…The partners will also look to acquire land which is already earmarked for projects that have failed to find financing. The Nikkei report, which Gakumazawa did not dispute, said that the typical project cost of mega solar is around ¥200 million per MW to ¥300 million per MW. Over the five years of development, the ballpark average cost of each project could be reduced from ¥90 billion to ¥60 billion to ¥65 billion for the 300 MW of anticipated projects.

So, a roughly one-third cut in development costs, according to those involved, and definitely something to keep on eye on over the next 5 years.

Image Credit: Solar Frontier


Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.

Latest CleanTechnica TV Video


Advertisement
 
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.

James Ayre

James Ayre's background is predominantly in geopolitics and history, but he has an obsessive interest in pretty much everything. After an early life spent in the Imperial Free City of Dortmund, James followed the river Ruhr to Cofbuokheim, where he attended the University of Astnide. And where he also briefly considered entering the coal mining business. He currently writes for a living, on a broad variety of subjects, ranging from science, to politics, to military history, to renewable energy.

James Ayre has 4830 posts and counting. See all posts by James Ayre