Japan’s BIJ Corporation, Switzerland’s Meeco Group and Italy’s Finergia Advisory & Finance have signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a solar joint venture.
Under the joint venture agreement, the companies will team up to initially install 30MW of grid-connected solar in Japan. However, its neighbouring markets including Fiji will also be a focus in the future.
BIJ Corporation will provide and manage all the local resources in Japan, identify suitable land and roof surface for the PV installations and supervise and mange the implementation of the plants. Finergia, along with The Meeco Group, will be responsible for providing adequate solutions and experienced professionals for each project as well financial advisory services under project finance schemes.
The Meeco Group will also make its off-grid PV solutions available to the joint venture including its sun2live solar energy storage systems, sun2go portable solar system, sun2flow solar water pumping system and sun2com telecommunications solution for the projects.
Japan has seen a surge in interest in the last half of 2012 spurred by the launch of the new Japanese feed-in tariff in July 2012. The rate of US$0.52 per kWh for PV systems above 10kW for a period of 20 years is one of the most attractive tariffs in the world at present and many companies are looking to grab a share of the available subsidies.
Commenting on the attractiveness of the Japanese market, Dieter Trutschler, Sales Director of The Meeco Group, said: “As a global player in the solar energy market, it was important for The Meeco Group to take part in this significant evolution in Japan by assigning resources and skills to market cooperation involving qualified local companies. The opportunity to be present in the market came through Finergia’s CEO, Mr Andrea Gatti, a long-term partner of Meeco who has previously been involved in solar energy projects in Italy.”
