japan

Japan’s 13th solar auctions have been heavily undersubscribed as developers struggle with land availability, support levels and familiarity with power market access, according to Shulman Advisory, a Tokyo-based renewables analyst agency.

Five of Asia’s biggest economies will exponentially grow their solar capacity in the coming years, according to new analysis from think tank Ember.

Renewables developer and sustainability services provider Enfinity Global has secured ¥29 billion (US$242 million) in long-term financing for three recently completed utility-scale solar plants in Japan totalling 70MW.

Spanish developer X-Elio has been awarded 15MW of solar PV capacity in Japan’s first feed-in premium (FiP) auction.

Mitsubishi Corporation has completed the acquisition of remaining shares of renewables trading firm ElectroRoute.

Japan is forecast to have 111GW of installed solar by 2025 under a business as usual scenario, with this rising to 154GW by 2030. If it were to aim higher, however, under an ‘accelerated scenario’, it could hit 115GW of installed PV by 2025 and top 180GW by 2030, according to a new analysis by RTS Corporation.

Solar module suppliers Maxeon Solar Technologies and Canadian Solar have settled an agreement on a patent infringement lawsuit in Japan.

French energy major TotalEnergies and Japanese oil company Eneos have formed a joint venture (JV) to develop 2GW of decentralised solar capacity across Asia over the next five years.

Battery storage manufacturer NGK Insulators has invested in EneCoat Technologies, a spin-out of Kyoto University involved in the development of of perovskite solar cells.

Japan’s Jera Co, a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Group (TEPCO) and the Chubu Electric Power Group, and Japanese solar construction firm West Holdings Corporation (West HD) have agreed to develop 1GW of solar PV in Japan over the next five years.