A mayor in Fukushima Prefecture and the president of Softbank Corp. have come up with a plan to convert irradiated farmland into a mega-solar power plant.
A mayor in Fukushima Prefecture and the president of Softbank Corp. have come up with a plan to convert irradiated farmland into a mega-solar power plant.
Softbank President Masayoshi Son and Minami-Soma Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai want to use farmland within the 20-kilometer no-entry zone from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant to build a solar power plant that can provide clean energy and create employment.
According to Sakurai, Minami-Soma has 854 hectares of farmland within the no-entry zone, where prospects for restarting the farm are dim. Many residents of the city have started discussions on collective relocation and giving up their contaminated farmland.
Son and Sakurai on March 19 met with Michihiko Kano, minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and asked that the central government designate part of Minami-Soma’s disaster-stricken areas as a special reconstruction zone so that the solar power plant can be constructed.
Kano replied that the ministry is willing to “consider the request in order to rebuild the city.”
Japanese laws, including the agricultural land act, restrict the conversion of farmland for other uses.
“We are also considering farmland in high-radiation areas other than the no-entry zone (as a possible site for a large solar power plant)," said Son, who has been encouraging local governments to shift to renewable energy sources and to provide land for large solar panels.
Despite their solar energy plans, Son and Sakurai are also pushing for farmers to resume farming in the no-entry zone after decontamination work is completed and harmful rumors about radiation have been squelched.