Geneva-based renewable energy development company Etrion Corp has announced it has secured an agreement to build, own and operate 100 megawatts (MW) of utility-scale solar in Japan.
Etrion will partner with Japan’s Hitachi High Technologies Corporation on the projects, with construction of the first plant expected to begin this year.
The two companies have worked together for over a year to secure the deal, which will take advantage of Japan’s 20-year feed-in tariff program of ¥40 per kilowatt/hour (kWh) (US$0.38 per kWh) for projects secured by March 31, 2013, and US$0.34 per kWh for projects secured this year.
In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the nation’s love affair with nuclear power has waned. Japan has emerged as one of the largest solar markets in the world, with over 15 gigawatts (GW) of installed photovoltaic solar capacity. The Japanese government has mandated a national solar power target to further increase this capacity to 28 GW by 2020.
These measures, along with regulatory easing and tax breaks for utility-scale solar development, are designed to reduce the country’s reliance on nuclear energy.
Etrion and Hitachi’s joint-development team plans to have 100 megawatts-peak (MWp)* of solar power under construction or shovel-ready by 2015. The deal will be Etrion’s first foray into the Asia-Pacific region. The Italian solar development company owns 17 solar plants in Italy and is building a 100MW solar pipeline in Chile along with Project Salvador, a 70MW solar PV plant.
According to Etrion CEO Marco A. Northland, partnering with Hitachi High Technologies positions the company as a global player in the PV industry.
“We are extending the range of our partners to position Etrion as a global platform for growth. Etrion is honoured to partner with Hitachi Hi-Tech and sees this as a key relationship for success in Japan and other Asian markets.”
*(MWp) = 1 million peak watts. A peak watt is the unit used to rate the performance of photovoltaic collectors and will deliver one watt of electricity under standard conditions of 1,000 watts of light intensity per square metre and an ambient temperature of 25°C.
