Etrion and Tamagawa Holdings will build, own and operate the 9.5 MW Aomori solar
project in Japan with financing arranged by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank
July 11, 2016, Miami, Florida and Tokyo, Japan Etrion Corporation
announced today the signing of project financing and
planned construction of the Aomori solar power project located in Misawa city in
the Aomori prefecture of the Tohoku region in Japan. Tamagawa Holdings Co.,
Ltd., was the initial developer and retains an interest in the project.
Financing was arranged by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited.
Marco A. Northland, Etrions Chief Executive Officer, commented: I am delighted
to announce the closing of $29 million project financing for our 9.5 MW Aomori
PV project in Japan. This is our third utility-scale solar project in Japan. It
continues to demonstrate the excellent partnership with Hitachi High-Tech, who
will be building the project on behalf of the partnership. Aomori also
represents several important firsts for Etrion. It is our first project
involving a local developer, Tamagawa Holdings Co. Ltd. It will also be the
first project in Japan where Etrion will act as the Asset Manager, further
confirming the markets acceptance of Etrion as a reliable, best-in-class
Independent Power Produced (IPP), developer and owner. Japan continues to be our
main focus and I expect more projects to reach financial close in the near
future.
Aomori Solar Project (9.5 MW)
Aomori is a 9.5 MW utility-scale solar PV power plant to be built in Aomori
Prefecture of Japan. The project consists of four sites. Construction-related
works are expected to commence in July 2016 and the solar project is expected to
be fully operational by the third quarter of 2017. The solar power plants will
be built on 164 hectares of owned land and the facilities will connect through
the Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. utility (Tohoku Electric Power utility).
Each project will enter into a twenty year power purchase agreement (PPA) with
the Tohoku Electric Power utility and will receive ¥36 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
produced (approximately US$0.35 per kWh).
Once operational, Aomori is expected to produce approximately 10.7 gigawatt
-hours (GWh) of solar electricity per year.
The total project cost will be financed approximately 85% through project debt
from SuMi Trust with a tenor equal to construction period and 19 years of
operations. The remaining approximate 15% equity portion will be funded pro-rata
based on the respective ownerships, with Etrion 60%, Tamagawa Holdings 30% and
Hitachi High-Tech 10%.
Japan is one of the largest solar PV markets in the world with over 36 gigawatts
(GW) of installed capacity and a national solar power target of 28 GW by 2020.
In 2012, Etrion and Hitachi High-Tech signed a development agreement to develop
a pipeline of solar assets in Japan. Under this agreement, both parties provide
the key functions necessary to successfully develop, build and operate solar
projects in Japan (including, but not limited to, obtaining the relevant permits
and authorizations to build and operate the solar power facilities, developing
relationships with local utilities and land owners, performing the EPC-related
services and providing O&M and asset management-related services). Aomori is
the third solar project to be built under this arrangement and the companies are
targeting to reach 100 MW either under construction or shovel-ready by the first
half of 2017.
