Shizen Energy, Microsoft Complete Construction Of Inuyama Solar Plant

Shizen Energy, Microsoft Complete Construction Of Inuyama Solar Plant

Shizen Energy Group has announced the completion of its Inuyama Solar Power Plant. It’s a large-scale solar power plant in Inuyama city, Aichi Prefecture in Japan, that commenced commercial operation in February 2024, and a completion ceremony was held on 25 March at the site.

The power plant has a rated output of 31 MW DC / 25 MW AC and an estimated total annual output of 37,000 kWh, enough to meet the annual electricity consumption of approximately 7,850 households. The completion ceremony was attended by many guests including, the Mayor of Inuyama City, landowners and residents, and other dignitaries from Societe Generale, which arranged the project financing for the development and construction of the plant, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), which co-invested in the plant, and other honored guests involved in the development of the project.

Toshiba Energy Systems and Solutions Corporation manages the electricity from the Inuyama solar power plant by selling the power to the market as an aggregator. The environmental attributes from the power plant will be supplied to Microsoft for 20 years under a virtual power purchase agreement (PPA) *1 concluded between Shizen Energy Inc. (Shizen Energy) and Microsoft.

Shizen Energy claims to be responsible for the overall coordination, financing, and asset management of the project, while Juwi Shizen Energy Inc. is in charge of development and EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) and JUWI Shizen Energy Operation Inc. conducts the operation and maintenance. This project was a major achievement for the Shizen Energy Group, which provides seamless, integrated solutions for renewable energy power plants.

In February, Shizen Energy and CDPQ announced the sale of an 80% economic interest in the plant to CDPQ, with both parties now jointly invested in the plant. This followed an initial investment of JPY 20 billion from CDPQ in Shizen Energy. Shizen Energy and CDPQ have also agreed to a co-investment framework, which will involve potential investments of JPY 50 billion by CDPQ.

The Inuyama Solar Power Plant is the first jointly-owned project under this framework. Shizen Energy will “take action for the blue plane” by flexibly responding to various needs such as decarbonization and strengthening energy resilience by combining the development of renewable energy sources in harmony with local communities such as EMS and storage batteries, aiming to realize a 100% renewable energy world as soon as possible with its partners.