Tokyo Gas to enter US solar market with 500MWac Texas acquisition

July 29, 2020
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email

Japanese gas utility Tokyo Gas has announced its entry to the US solar market, acquiring a prospective 500MWac solar farm in Texas.

In a statement issued earlier today (29 June 2020), Tokyo Gas America confirmed it would launch a new subsidiary to house a 500MWac/631MWdc project – dubbed Aktina – which is to be developed by Chicago-based developer Hecate Energy.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

The statement confirms that the subsidiary is to be established tomorrow with a capital contribution of JP¥49 billion (US$466 million), intending to complete the acquisition of Aktina on 5 August 2020.

Construction is expected to commence in Q3 2020 before being brought online in phases starting in the middle of next year. Tokyo Gas says the project is “strategically located” near a high-demand load centre near Houston, with all power generated to be sold to the ERCOT wholesale market.

ERCOT – the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’ wholesale market – manages the deregulated power market for around 75% of Texas and is one of the most population-dense power markets in the US.

Tokyo Gas said Texas’ consumption of solar, while comparatively low today, is anticipated to soar in the coming years.

The acquisition – Tokyo Gas’ first solar purchase outside of Japan – will take the gas utility’s total global solar portfolio to 1.2GW.

The project itself is one of a number of utility-scale solar farms being developed by Hecate in the Lone Star State. Late last year IT giant Google turned to Hecate for 250MW of power from solar power in Texas in a transaction the developer said would trigger the construction of 500MW.

25 November 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Large Scale Solar Central and Eastern Europe continues to be the place to leverage a network that has been made over more than 10 years, to build critical partnerships to develop solar projects throughout the region.

Read Next

October 27, 2025
Engie has signed additional PPAs with Meta, expanding their partnership to more than 1.3GW across four solar projects in Texas.
October 23, 2025
The average price of a solar PPA signed in Europe in Q3 2025 fell below €35/MWh, reaching €34.25/MWh, according to LevelTen Energy.
October 23, 2025
Infrastructure investment firm Nuveen Infrastructure has secured US$171 million in financing for a 137MW solar PV plant in South Korea.
October 23, 2025
Aviva Investors and Astatine have announced an €800 million (US$928 million) investment in renewable energy and decarbonisation solutions.
October 22, 2025
Recurrent Energy, Ampliform and Dimension Energy have announced new financing rounds this month for US solar projects.
October 21, 2025
Cypress Creek Renewables has achieved financial close on its 75MW Sundance solar-plus-storage project in Elbert County, Colorado.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK
Solar Media Events
March 10, 2026
Frankfurt, Germany
Solar Media Events
March 24, 2026
Lisbon, Portugal