Numerous foreign companies have entered the solar energy business in Japan, taking advantage of a favorable tariff system for renewable energy and the closure of all nuclear reactors in the country.
For the moment, the largest presence is recorded by Chinese and US companies. The latest in chronological order is the joint venture, signed on May 17, between the Chinese Shanghai Electric Power and an installer from Osaka for the construction of 6 solar panels on the island of Sakishima.
The plant will have an energy production of 2 megawatts. Shanghai Electric Power is carrying out an "aggressive" investment campaign in the Land of the Rising Sun. In April, construction began on a 48-megawatt solar power plant in Nasu-Karasuyama, Tochigi Prefecture. Shanghai Electric Power will manage the facility that will supply electricity to 15 homes by the end of the year.
In Okayama prefecture, the US General Electric plans to build a 230 megawatt plant, the largest solar energy facility in the country. Other similar projects by American, Canadian and Chinese companies are under development in the Kanto, Tokai and Kyushu regions.
Facilitating the expansion of clean energy is a July 2012 law that introduced a system whereby electric utilities must purchase power from solar-powered plants at a fixed price for the next twenty years.
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