Having already announced plans for large-scale solar farms at 10 locations in Japan, the Softbank Corp. group is considering doubling the number over the next two to three years, a company executive said.
Hiroaki Fujii, vice president of SB Energy Corp., a subsidiary of Softbank Corp., spoke to The Asahi Shimbun on July 10 about the company's plans for renewable energy.
“We have already decided on the 10 (initial) locations, but around double that number is conceivable,” Fujii said of SB Energy's solar farms. “Studies are needed because the number of candidate sites is increasing.”
SB Energy is considering the increase because a purchase system of renewable energy starting in Japan on July 1 has created a more favorable environment for power generation operations using renewable energy sources.
The company plans to relax its standards to choose more candidate sites.
“We will reconsider locations that we had earlier judged unsuitable because of such factors as the distance from power lines and ground conditions,” Fujii said.
SB Energy has already received applications from local governments and businesses for more than 300 sites. Fuji said there are also many other candidates.
Fujii also revealed plans to commercialize power generation using sources other than solar and wind, which the company has already handled.
“We have been studying geothermal and biomass,” he said.
On July 1, SB Energy opened a solar power facility in Kyoto and another in Shinto, Gunma Prefecture. The company has plans to open eight other facilities in Kyoto, Tochigi, Tottori, Tokushima, Nagasaki and Kumamoto prefectures and Hokkaido within three years.
The facilities will have a maximum power generation capacity of between 2.1 megawatts and 111 megawatts.
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