No. 18: Nation’s biggest photovoltaic power plant will be built in Aichi Prefecture (November 11, 2011)

A total of six companies including Mitsui Chemical and Toshiba have decided to build the national’s largest photovoltaic power plant in Aichi Prefecture with an investment of about 18 billion yen. The construction will start in June 2012, and the plant is schedule for completion in September 2013. All the power generated by this plant will be sold to Chubu Electric Power Company. As the special measures law of renewable energy will be put into effect in July next year, it is likely that a large size project of this kind is supposed to start in succession in Japan.

The mega plant will be built in the 820,000-square-meter idle land owned by Mitsui Chemical. Solar panels with a combined capacity of 50,000 kW will be laid on the area. A wind generation plant with a capacity of 6,000 kW will also be built in this area. The plant will be able to generate power sufficient to satisfy the demand of about 19,000 households. There are two mega photovoltaic power plants at present. The plant in Sakai near Osaka has a capacity of 28,000 kW, and the plant in Kawasaki near Tokyo has a capacity of 20,000 kW. The new mega plant in Aichi Prefecture will have the nation’s largest, surpassing these two mega plants.

The special measures law to be enacted next July asks electric power companies to purchase all amount of power generated by renewable energy at a relatively high price for the next 15-20 years. The specific amount and specific period for the purchase will be decided early next year.