Toronto: Solar developer Grasshopper Solar announced a US$80 million investment September 6 in Setouchi Koken's Iizuka Solar Plant located in Fukuoka, Japan. The 21.6MW ground mount project will utilize 65,455 solar panels and is expected to generate 26,136 MWh of energy and offset 19,451 tons of carbon emissions per annum.
The Iizuka Power Plant will be developed by Setouchi and its Japanese partners with construction commencing in Q4 2018 and is expected to achieve commercial operation by Q3 of 2020. The project, once completed, will participate in the country's Feed-in Tariff program with a 20-year JPY ¥36/kWh contract awarded by METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry).
The solar power boom in Japan has accelerated dramatically over the years, the company comments. Japan installed 7GW in 2017 for a total 50GW and is on track to install another 7GW by the end of 2018. Solar energy's share of electricity production in Japan is now estimated at 7% and projected to grow to 12% by 2030.
Founded in 2007, with an office in Mississauga, Grasshopper Solar bills itself as Canada’s largest fully-integrated solar energy company.