SunEdison, the solar development unit of MEMC Electronic Materials Inc, said it plans to build solar power plants in Japan over a five-year period at an initial cost of 350 billion yen ($4.6 billion).
The second-largest US maker of polysilicon is in talks with local governments including Niigata and Fukuoka prefectures on project sites, Jackie Okawa, a spokeswoman for SunEdison, said today by phone from Osaka. Capacity will total 1 gigawatt, she said, confirming a report by the Nikkei newspaper.
Japan’s parliament passed a bill in August guaranteeing prices higher than market rates for wind, solar and geothermal energy to encourage renewable-energy development. Similar legislation in Germany and Spain has spurred solar companies to install panels.
While Japan’s incentive program is due to start in July, the government hasn’t set the prices. “We can’t start building plants until rates are set, as we can’t calculate project costs,” Okawa said.
Local projects would be profitable should prices be set at 32 yen a kilowatt-hour, the Nikkei reported. Okawa declined to elaborate on prices.
