Solar Market Japan: Juwi Joint Venture Realizes 100 MW Solar Park - Further 140 MW Solar Capacity Under Construction

Wörrstadt, Germany / Fukushima, Japan - Juwi Shizen Energy, the joint venture established in 2013 between German project developer Juwi and Japanese wind and solar farm developer Shizen Energy, has successfully connected the largest single project in its history to the grid in Fukushima City.

On March 31, 2023, the Azuma Kofuji solar park was handed over to the operator. Construction of the large-scale plant with a capacity of 100 megawatts (MW) began in August 2020, and the first kilowatt hour of solar power was fed into the grid at the end of September 2022. Annually, the solar park, which is spread over several sub-areas, will produce around 107 million kWh of electricity. This corresponds to the average electricity demand of around 31,000 Japanese households.

Juwi Shizen implemented the project as EPC service provider. With the largest project in the joint venture history, the project volume implemented since its foundation in 2013 now increases to a total of 602 MW. Another 140 megawatts of solar capacity is currently under construction.

The project now completed covers an area of around 186 hectares, most of which consists of farmland that is no longer in use. The construction of renewable energy plants on such disused former agricultural land is encouraged in Japan.

The solar park is located in Fukushima Prefecture, about 80 kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor, where an earthquake and resulting tsunami caused core meltdowns in several reactor units in March 2011, making it one of the largest nuclear disasters in history.

Source: IWR Online, 20 Apr 2023