OCCTO opened the 24th (first FY2025) solar auction for registration on April 14, 2025, offering feed-in-premium (FIP) contracts for up to 79MWAC. Projects can be registered until May 9, 2025.
The FIP price ceiling for the auction has been set at 8.9 yen per kWh. Non-rooftop 250kW or larger solar projects can participate. Rooftop projects of the same scale are excluded from the auction and offered the more favorable 11.5 yen per kWh fixed FIP.
Businesses that registered their projects will be notified about their eligibility to bid in the auction by late May 2025. Actual bids from eligible projects will then be accepted between June 2 and 13, 2025. OCCTO plans to publish the results of the auction round on June 20, 2025. Winners will be required to FIP-certify their projects by January 20, 2026.
METI decided to reduce the procurement volume from the first FY2024 auction round’s 93MW due to the year’s second and third rounds being undersubscribed. The decision was not reversed despite the fourth FY2024 round being oversubscribed, with five mega solar projects securing all 93MW offered.
The procurement capacity for the upcoming rounds will depend on the results of the prior rounds but be no less than 79MW each. Registrations for the three remaining rounds are scheduled to open on June 23, 2025, September 24, 2025, and January 5, 2026, respectively.
