BayWa r.e. Commissions its First Japanese Solar Farm

The Kuwabarajo Mega Solar No.4 solar park covers 24 hectares and is located in Izumi in the Kyushu Kagoshima Prefecture.

The 11.9MW project will generate enough electricity to power 5000 homes.

Daniel Gaefke, Director of Projects APAC at BayWa r.e. said: “We’re very pleased to announce the completion of our first solar farm in Japan. Developing mega-solar projects in Japan is a challenge, given that suitable land for construction is scarce, and the permission process can easily take a few years.

We are very proud to be playing a role in helping Japan to grow its renewable energy generation and support it as it moves from a feed-in-tariff (FIT) market towards a long-term commercial marketplace.”

Despite being located in a hilly area, the construction of the solar farm, which comprises 31,248 solar panels, took just over a year. Now operational, it is feeding green electricity into the national grid.

Tetsuya Oura, President of BayWa r.e Japan K.K. commented, “It’s an exciting time for BayWa r.e. in Japan, with the commercial completion of the Kuwabarajo Mega Solar No.4 solar park and two other solar farms to follow soon. Once complete all three solar farms will deliver close to 100MW of green energy to local people.

As a relatively new entrant to the market, we have worked hard to show both the local authorities and communities that BayWa r.e. is the perfect partner to help the country to meet its renewable energy targets while also being a good neighbour. 

Key to our approach has been to work closely with the local communities around all our projects.”

BayWa r.e. is already busy constructing its second solar farm in Isohara in the Ibaraki prefecture north of Tokyo. The 35MW project is set to complete in 2021, followed by the Kobe 50MW solar farm in 2022.

BayWa r.e. operates across the breadth of the APAC region, with offices in Australia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan.

Since entering the APAC region in 2015 BayWa r.e. has already delivered over 500MW of renewable energy across solar and wind farm developments and large-scale C&I installations.