One of Japan’s main power suppliers, Kansai Electric Power, has started commercial operation of its 10MW PV plant in Sakai City, Osaka, reports Bloomberg.
The plant, which started partial operation in October 2010, is one of the largest in Japan and generates enough electricity to power around 3,000 homes. Kansai Electric has also revealed plans to build an 18MW plant alongside Sharp, which will also be situated in Sakai City. A construction start date for the project has yet to be decided.
Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis
Photovoltaics International is now included.
- Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
- In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
- Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
- Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
- Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
- Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual
Or continue reading this article for free
Kansai’s projects add further momentum to the revival of large-scale solar in Japan. Since March’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, calls for investment in utility-scale solar and other renewables have been growing ever louder. In August, Mitsui-Toshiba announced they would be building a 50MW PV plant in the Aichi Prefecture and other MW-scale systems have been proposed for the cities of Kawasaki (20MW) and Sakai (28MW).
