A group of companies, including Hitachi Ltd., plans to invest 3.5 billion yen ($44 million) to build a large solar power plant on the disaster-hit Oshika Peninsula in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.
A group of companies, including Hitachi Ltd., plans to invest 3.5 billion yen ($44 million) to build a large solar power plant on the disaster-hit Oshika Peninsula in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.
The companies plan to start operations at the plant in summer 2013. It will have a capacity of 10 megawatts, one of the largest in Japan for a solar plant, sources said.
Toko Electrical Construction Co. and a local construction company have established a special-purpose company that will be in charge of the project. Hitachi is considering investing in the new company, the sources said.
The special-purpose company plans to sell all electricity generated at the plant to Tohoku Electric Power Co., using a system to be introduced this summer.
Another mega solar project expected to help in the recovery of areas hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami last year is under way in Higashi-Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, led by Mitsui & Co.
Toyota Motor Corp. plans to build a solar power plant with a capacity of 10 to 20 megawatts in the inland village of Ohira in the same prefecture, where the automaker has a factory.