Softbank, Mitsubishi UFJ to build 102MW PV plant with 27MWh battery system in northern Japan

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email
Softbank utility-scale solar in Japan. Clean energy development is a subsidiary business of the Japanese mobile telecoms provider. Image: Softbank.

SB Energy, the renewables arm of Japanese firm Softbank, and Mitsubishi UFJ Leasing are to develop a 102.3MW solar PV project combined with 27MWh of battery stroage in Hokkaido, Japan.

This will be the largest solar-plus-storage project in the country to date and will be spread across 132 hectares of land.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Construction of the Softbank Yakumo Solar Park in Yakumo-cho, Nikaima- gun, will start in April 2018 with operations expected to start during FY2020.

The 50:50 joint venture project will supply enough power for the equivalent of 27,967 households with approximately 10,682MWh of generation per year.

It will use lithium-ion battery energy storage technology. The utlity Hokkaido Electric Power Company had added technical requirements, provinding for the mitigatation of output fluctuation, opening up an opportunity to add storage capacity to control this output.

The most northern of Japan's main islands, Hokkaido was, despite relatively low solar irradiance, a popular location for early feed-in tariff (FiT) supported utility-scale solar, due to low population and land use density. Along with others among Japan's 10 regional grid and utility companies, Hokkaido Electric Power began issuing technical requirements to mitigate fluctuating solar PV output and curtails its off-taking of solar energy onto the grid when output exceeds agreed levels. 

Mitsubishi and SB Energy also share a 50% stake in a recently completed 32.3MW PV project in Kagoshima Prefecture.

Last week, private equity fund SoftBank Vision Fund signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to develop 3GW of PV and energy storage capacity within Saudi Arabia.

Read Next

Premium
May 20, 2025
ESN Premium speaks with Chloe Hicks of EnergyCo about New South Wales’ Renewable Energy Zones (REZ) and its hopes for energy storage.
May 20, 2025
Origin Energy has submitted an 800MWh wind-plus-storage project in New South Wales to Australia’s EPBC Act.
May 19, 2025
Elements Green has received grid connection approval from Powerlink Queensland and the AEMO for a 1.3GWh solar-plus-BESS site in Queensland.
May 16, 2025
Developer Elgin Energy has secured grid connection approval from AEMO for a 150MW solar-plus-storage site in Victoria.
May 14, 2025
The Mobility House will provide its aggregation and trading software to Electrohold, the energy trading arm of IPP and T&D network owner Eurohold Bulgaria, to optimise a 2.5GWh portfolio of BESS projects.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter