Today, we are pleased to announce our achievement of finance close on the Sanda Solar Power Plant, which we have been developing in Sanda City, Hyogo Prefecture since 2016. As in the past, we were only able to raise funds and execute the project due to the trust of many Japanese industrial companies and financial institutions. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the stakeholders involved.
While the Sanda Solar Power Plant is our 15th self-developed solar power project and the 4th in Hyogo prefecture, the energy selling rate is 15.17 yen per kilowatt hour, the lowest we have achieved thus far. In addition, this rate is 62% cheaper than that of our first Kumenan solar power plant (selling rate: 40 yen per kilowatt hour) that have reached financial close in 2014. This is a great achievement for us, due to our many long years of work to reduce costs as well as the efforts of related companies – an important milestone toward realizing zero burden on rate payers through our goal of reaching grid parity for renewable energy power sources.
The Sanda Solar Plant project is located on the former site of a golf course and utilizes and enhances existing regulation reservoir and drainage facility to collect as much storm water as possible on the site. The use of pre-developed sites such as an abandoned golf course to minimize construction and deforestation was incorporated into the planning process to avoid impacting the natural environment and local disaster prevention measures as much as possible.
Hyogo Prefecture, where this project is located, is one of the prefectures with the strictest standards and screening for solar power projects to ensure the safety and security for its residents, and this project had to complete a screening process based on four different laws and eight different ordinances. In order to clear the strict screening process, we conducted thorough consultations and developed designs with the utmost safety in mind, allowing us to receive consent and permission from concerned residents’ associations and the prefectural governor.
Construction work will take place over the next three years, yet the plant will not be the source of truly inexpensive power unless the work can be completed safely and without hindrance. Our mission is to complete the project safely with consideration for the local community and the natural environment.
Utilizing the know-how and networks that we have cultivated in Japan, we are committed to the challenge of achieving grid parity for renewable energy sources and developing a power sources that are rooted in local communities to protect the global environment and achieve Japan’s carbon-neutral goals. Dedicated to responsible management of renewable energy as a long-term stable power source with a view of developing it into a main power source, we will strive tirelessly for the diffusion of safe, clean, and inexpensive renewable energy.
August 2, 2021
Hiroki Matsuo
President and CEO
Pacifico Energy K.K.
