Global Power Synergy Public Company Limited (GPSC) has announced its success to start the 20.8 MW solar farm project, which is the first pilot project of the company on behalf of the PTT group that start investing in Japan where it plans to continue to invest further.

Dr.Teomchai Bunnag, President of GPSC, the power and electricity flagship of PTT Group, has announced today (April 4, 2016) that the company is celebrating the success to start developing its first renewable energy investment in Japan which is Ichinoseki Solar Power plant. The solar farm has the power generating capacity of 20.8 megawatts, which requires 10 billion yen, or around 3.15 billion baht of investment budget (converted at the exchange rate of 0.315 Thai baht per 1 Japanese yen). The company is on track to seek for loan, which will account for 80% of investment budget, while the rest 20% will be its capital, expecting to get the loan shortly.

The solar farm project has run via the Ichinoseki Solar Power 1 GK (ISP1), the renewable energy subsidiary of GPSC, which it holds 99% of stakes.

“The project to develop a solar farm in Ichinoseki City in Iwate Prefecture in the northern region of Honshu of Japan under Ichinoseki Solar Power 1 GK, which GPSC hold 99% of shares, is the first pilot project that the company as of the power and utility flagship of PTT Group has started investing outside Thailand and AEC. The project has proceeded quite well with 32 % of the site preparation work has been done which is earlier than expectation. As a result, the solar farm is due to start selling power by the fourth quarter of 2017.” said Dr. Toemchai.

He said the project will adopt the modern German technology of Photovoltaic Module of Polycrystalline from Conergy. The project contains 95,854 solar panels on 560 rai of land, which will generate a total power capacity of 20.8 megawatts throughout the power purchasing agreement of 20 years.

The company has signed a power purchasing agreement with Tohoku Electric Power, which is a Japanese utility company at the FiT (Feed in Tariff) rate of 40 yen per unit, equivalent to 12.6 baht per unit throughout the 20 year contract. The project is due to start commercial operation date by the fourth quarter of 2017, it is a part of the Japanese government policy which allows private firms to invest in renewable energy to generate power in order to serve rising demand in Japan, since fears over the 2011 Fukushima nuclear has deterred the government from any electricity providing by nuclear power. As a result, GPSC is continuing to seek for opportunity to invest in Japan further in the future.

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