JR East signed an off-site PPA on April 23, 2025, agreeing to procure power from Mitsubishi HC Capital Energy and Kubota Honten’s solar power plants totaling 37.6MWAC via Tohoku Electric Power.
Under the agreement, Tohoku EPCO will supply about 47GWh annually for JR East Tohoku Shinkansen’s operations within the Tohoku TSO area. The deal is expected to cover about 9% of Tohoku Shinkansen’s power consumption between Koriyama and Shin-Aomori stations and 4% of JR East’s overall Shinkansen lines’ consumption within the region.
Mitsubishi HC Capital’s wholly-owned subsidiary Miyatoko Mega Solar Power Generation LLC will supply the majority of the power from its 36MWAC project in Miyagi Prefecture. Historic METI data suggests that the power plant was feed-in-tariff (FIT) certified in FY2014. However, it does not appear in its latest published list of valid FIT/FIP IDs. The company’s website lists the power plant as 37.6MWDC and notes that it was commissioned in October 2023.
Kubota will provide the remainder of the capacity. The company’s website and METI data suggest the involved asset is likely the 1.6MWAC/2.5MWDC Yujima Anosawa Solar Power Plant commissioned in May 2023, which was awarded a 10.08 yen per kWh FIT in FY2021’s fourth solar auction.
The deal brings the total PPA capacity signed between JR East and Tohoku EPCO Group to 59.8MW. Previously, the railway operator signed agreements involving a 1.2MW Hitachi Power Solutions wind and a 21MWAC Nozomi Energy solar power plant. According to the Japan Energy Hub PPA database, this is the first PPA disclosed by Kubota.
Correction (April 26, 2025): The previous version of this article referred to Kubota as Kubota Holdings, the parent company of Kubota Honten.
