Aug 5 2015
Etrion Corporation, a solar independent power producer, today announced that the last site of the Mito solar project in Japan has been connected to the grid and will start recognizing revenues by the end of August 2015 following testing.
Mito is a 9.3 megawatt (“MW”) utility-scale solar photovoltaic (“PV”) power project including five sites in the Ibaraki Prefecture. The Mito project includes a total of 28.3 hectares and is expected to produce a total of approximately 10.5 million kWh of solar electricity per year. The solar project is owned 87% by Etrion and 13% by Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (“Hitachi High-Tech”) (TOKYO: 8036), a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd.
The project was built by Hitachi High-Tech using Canadian Solar poly-crystalline PV modules, fixed-tilt technology and Hitachi inverters. The project company has entered into a long-term, fixed-price operation and maintenance agreement with Hitachi High-Tech. The Mito project company has also entered into a 20-year power purchase agreement (“PPA”) with Tokyo Electric Power Company (“TEPCO”) under which the project will receive ¥40 per kilowatt-hour (“kWh”) of electricity produced. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited provided 80% of the financing for the project with an 18-year, non-recourse loan.