Eurus turns to solar power

Japan's largest wind power developer is considering becoming a leading solar power producer.

Eurus Energy Holdings Corporation, the holding company of the Eurus Energy Group, Japan's largest wind power developer, is considering building a solar power plant capable of producing 40 megawatts of electricity in Awaji City, Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan.

The Awaji plant will become the first domestic solar power plant developed by Eurus, a joint venture between trading company Toyota Tsusho and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), operator of the ill-starred Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant ruined by the massive earthquake and tsunami of March 2011. TEPCO owns 60% of Eurus.

If built, the plant will begin operating by March 2014 and plans to sell all of its electricity to Kansai Electric Power. Construction of the plant may be subject to government implementing the feed-in tariff program, which is due to start in July.

An independent power producer, Eurus operates wind farms in and outside Japan with a total capacity of more than 2 gigawatts. The company also has about 50 megawatts of solar power plants in South Korea and the USA.