Mitsubishi Corp is looking to build large-scale solar power plants in Japan, ahead of the start of a national feed-in tariff program, the Nikkei business daily said.
The company has selected Kumamoto Prefecture as a prospective site. The facility would have an output of more than 1 megawatt, with an initial investment of about 600-700 million yen ($7.5-$8.7 million) per megawatt, the Nikkei said.
Talks on large-scale solar projects are also under way with other local governments, the daily reported.
At the national level, the proposed feed-in tariff would create guaranteed demand for all of the output from renewable energy projects. The government has put forward legislation aimed at starting the incentive program next fiscal year, the paper said.
Mitsubishi is active in solar energy overseas. It operates solar power plants in Europe through a partnership with Acciona SA of Spain and is involved in a project to build one of the world’s largest such facilities in Thailand using solar panels made by Sharp Corp. Now, it is looking to help promote solar power at home.
