Aquila Capital develops, sells 38.4-MW PV project in Japan

German alternative investment firm Aquila Capital has sold a 38.4-MWp solar project in Japan to a local institutional investor after completing its development.

The company said on Tuesday that this is its second project in Japan since entering the market in 2012 and that it plans more investments in the country. It wants to acquire early-stage photovoltaic (PV) projects of over 150 MWp and develop them until they are ready for sale. "Market-ready projects are particularly interesting for local institutional investors, so developing projects that already have secured feed-in tariffs is an attractive strategy for our investors," said Boris Beltermann, in charge of Aquila Capital's solar business in Japan.

According to the company, even with the coming into effect of a new feed-in tariff (FiT) system as of April 2017, there are attractive rates for a number of projects that have secured prior approval. It said it has obtained a high FiT of JPY 40 (USD 0.37/EUR 0.34) per kWh for the latest project by acquiring early the property on which it was developed. Beltermann noted that "compared to the approval processes in European solar markets, the development risk in Japan becomes comparatively low as soon as the land has been secured."

Aquila Capital will manage the 38.4-MWp solar farm in the operational phase.

(JPY 100 = USD 0.913/EUR 0.858)

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