Utility which sparked Japan’s solar grid connection saga to install 300MWh battery

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

The news comes as Japan’s utilities push for the restart of nuclear power facilities, amid a backdrop of legal battles and public debate. Image: Andy Colthorpe
A Japanese utility which last year temporarily suspended new grid applications for large-scale solar, sparking a wave of similar suspensions by other utilities, will install a huge battery project aimed at integrating a higher capacity of renewable energy generation.

Kyushu Electric became the first of five Japanese utilities to suspend new applications for grid connection, citing supply and demand imbalances and other grid issues. The issue has had a serious knock-on effect for the country’s solar industry.

The company last week confirmed reports that it will install a 50MW/300MWh electric battery storage system at a power station in Fukuoka Prefecture. Like the rest of Japan’s 10 regional utility companies, Kyushu Electric is responsible for the grid network in its service area as well as electricity sales.

The utility is based on the southern island of Kyushu, which since the inception of Japan’s feed-in tariff (FiT) in 2012 was a preferred location for many solar project developers due to its high levels of solar irradiance.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

Not ready to commit yet?
  • 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

As of December, Kyushu Electric Power said, around 8.17GW of solar projects had been approved in its service area. Government efforts to calculate how much solar could still be approved across the service areas of the five utilities that suspended applications resolved that around 51GW of capacity remains across the network, but at local level the issues are more acute in some areas than others.

Kyushu Electric says it wants to establish a stable power supply and for the continuing smooth introduction of renewable energy facilities. The new battery system will be co-located at an oil-fired power station, Buzen. Work on it is expected to begin this year and to be finished during FY2016. Funding for it will come from the state Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), with vendor details, technology type and technical specifications not revealed.

For a report into the recent issues facing Japan’s solar industry, including grid connection question, read Volume 2 of PV Tech Power, Solar Media’s downstream solar technology journal.

Read Next

September 8, 2025
A 12GWh pumped hydro project and a 1,200MWh battery energy storage system in New South Wales (NSW) have been submitted to Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
September 8, 2025
Chinese solar PV inverter and energy storage provider Sungrow has deployed two C&I community batteries, marking the first in South Australia to undergo Common Smart Inverter Profile for Australia (CSIP-AUS) testing.
August 25, 2025
Independent power producer (IPP) Fullmark Energy has announced the commercial operation of its 20MW/40MWh Ortega energy storage project in Lake Elsinore, California, US.
August 21, 2025
ACE Power has confirmed the sale of the 103MW/206MWh Kerang grid-forming BESS in the Loddon Valley region of Victoria, Australia.
Premium
August 21, 2025
“It’s the most powerful BESS in the world,” Nick Carter of Akaysha Energy, tells ESN Premium after switching on the Waratah Super Battery in New South Wales, Australia.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter