Softbank Corp, Japan’s third-largest mobile phone operator, said on Wednesday that it would participate in a project to build about a dozen large solar power facilities across the country.
The company’s billionaire president, Masayoshi Son, has committed himself to helping boost renewable energy sources in the wake of the crisis at a nuclear power plant in northeast Japan.
The Nikkei business daily reported on Wednesday that Son has proposed the construction of 20-megawatt facilities, costing about 8 billion yen ($97.6 million) each.
Softbank would fund about 10 percent of the cost of the solar power plants, with local governments paying 100 million yen for each facility, while bank loans would make up the rest, the paper said.
Softbank, which remains heavily indebted after buying Vodafone’s Japan operations in 2006, said that details of the scheme were yet to be decided.
The Nikkei said Softbank may use solar panels produced by Sharp Corp in the project.
The distributor of Apple Inc’s iPad and iPhone in Japan is likely to keep any solar power operations separate from its consolidated earnings since there is little connection with its main telecommunications business, the Nikkei said.
