
On July 2, 2024, Joyo Shoji announced it contracted Shirokuma Power (formerly afterFIT) for help with the commercialization of a battery storage project, which Joyo Shoji was awarded in Japan’s first Long-Term Decarbonization Auction (LTDA) held in FY2023. Shirokuma Power will be responsible for acquiring land for the project, EPC (engineering, procurement, construction), as well as O&M (operation and maintenance).
The 37.515MW-project in Naganuma Town, Yubari District, Hokkaido, is expected to be completed by FY2027 (in the LTDA, capacity for four years ahead is auctioned each year). Joyo Shoji expects to recover the project’s fixed costs over a period of 20 years as a result of the LTDA. According to Joyo Shoji, the project will use lithium iron phosphate battery will be used. They will be controlled using Shirokuma Power’s energy management system.
This is the fourth project on which Joyo Shoji and its group companies teamed up with Shirokuma Power. They are also working together on three smaller projects subsidized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (2 MW in Ota City, Gunma Prefecture; 2 MW in Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture; and 2 MW in Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture), which are expected to be completed between September and December 2024.
Joyo Shoji entered the grid-scale storage battery business in 2023. It was one of the 11 companies awarded battery storage project capacity in the first LTDA (for details about the other projects, download our free research brief on the topic). The company has been involved in solar power generation since 2012.