japan

Japan's PV industry is changing fast. The feed-in tariff has brought about over 30GW of installed capacity, with large-scale solar outnumbering residential by about 10 to one. Ahead of this week's PV Expo in Tokyo, Andy Colthorpe takes a look at some of the issues expected to dominate.

Solar power company Canadian Solar announced that it has agreed to a financial agreement in which Goldman Sachs Japan will establish a US$26 million project finance bond for the 10.2MW Aomori-Misawa solar power plant in Rokunohe-cho, Kamikita-gun, Aomori Prefecture, Japan.

After Japan’s solar market got off to a flying start, a combination of policy headwinds and grid constraints has made the going much tougher. But with new market segments opening up and an electricity market reform process about to get underway the prospects for the world’s second largest PV market of 2015 still look strong.

Japan’s solar FiT for the next financial year could be set at ¥24 (US$0.21) per kWh, while controversial curtailment rules to restrict output from PV plants have been applied on the southern island of Kyushu.

Construction of Europe’s largest floating solar PV array is underway on London’s Queen Elizabeth II reservoir, where the installation will help Thames Water meet its target of self-generating a third of its own power by 2020.

Japan’s renewable energy laws are likely to result in the introduction of an auction process for large-scale solar, with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) confirming that it has put a plan for approval before the cabinet.

The Japan Renewable Energy Foundation (JREF) has voiced concerns that a tender process for PV expected to be introduced next year could cap deployment at just 2GW to 3GW a year in what is currently still the world’s second biggest market for annual installations.

Solar Frontier believes it could make some of Japan’s as-yet-unbuilt utility-scale solar projects economically viable, as the company’s partnership with Goldman Sachs-affiliate Japan Renewable Energy prepares to take on 300MW of projects within the next five years.

Developers in Japan with large-scale PV projects in the pipeline have been given just over a year to prove their projects will go ahead, or will lose their feed-in tariff (FiT).

A 45.6MW DC solar farm in northern Japan has been switched on by Japanese financial services group Orix Corporation and its joint venture (JV) partner Sharp.