Nozomi Energy signed a specific wholesale power supply agreement with JERA Cross for its 24MWDC Maki Solar Power Plant in Chiba Prefecture, the companies announced on April 17, 2025.
The 2019-commissioned feed-in-tariff (FIT) power plant’s output will be sold by TEPCO Power Grid to JERA Cross. JERA Cross plans to offer it to its customers as part of its hourly matching retail service.
Under the FIT scheme, an asset owner sells its generation to the area’s grid operator, which then sells it in the wholesale market. The specific wholesale power supply mechanism allows the owner to sign a contract with a power retailer to which the grid operator then has to sell the power directly at spot prices. The generator can charge the retailer a premium for the designation, separate from the FIT.
The mechanism can boost the value of FIT asset-generated power by ensuring local consumption, as in the case of a scheme implemented in Sakata City, Yamagata Prefecture, recently, or, as with this deal, by improving visibility into the sources of power and thus enabling schemes like hourly matching.
With power consumers’ interest in aligning power use with generation and in 24/7 renewable energy instead of simply covering consumption volumes with certificates increasing, the demand from power retailers for specific wholesale power supply contracts is likely to increase, potentially unlocking additional revenue for existing FIT projects.
