BayWa re commissions 11.9-MW solar park in Japan, plans more

Germany’s BayWa r.e. renewable energy GmbH said today it has brought online an 11.9-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) park in Japan’s Kyushu Kagoshima Prefecture.

This is the first Japanese solar project that reaches completion for the renewables unit of German diversified group BayWa AG (ETR:BYW6). The so-called Kuwabarajo Mega Solar No.4 solar park was installed on a 24-ha site in Izumi, on Kyushu island, and is equipped with 31,248 panels that are expected to generate electricity to supply about 5,000 homes annually. Installation works took around a year.

In spite of the challenging market conditions, BayWa re has plans to expand its portfolio of Japanese assets. It is currently building a 35-MW solar park in Ibaraki prefecture, planned to go live in 2021, and also intends to construct a 50-MW PV plant in Kobe, lifting its installed solar capacity in the Asian country to almost 100 MW.

“Developing mega-solar projects in Japan is a challenge, given that suitable land for construction is scarce, and the permission process can easily take a few years,” said Daniel Gaefke, director of projects APAC at BayWa r.e.

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