Yamagata-based solar developer and maintenance services provider POWER E NEXT secured a 1.7 billion yen loan to finance a 995kW hydropower project it is developing in Nishikawa Town, Yamagata Prefecture.
The 1.7 billion yen facility was signed on February 27, 2025. It was arranged by Yamagata Bank, which committed half of the funds. Another Yamagata-based bank, Shonai Bank, provided the other half.
METI data shows the project was FIT-certified in March 2022. The 20-year, 29 yen per kWh tariff for 200kW to 999.9kW hydroelectric power plants remains unchanged since FY2012 when the scheme was first introduced.
POWER E NEXT’s portfolio currently includes eight solar power plants totaling 15.4MWAC. Seven of those are high-voltage projects between 250 and 1,995kWAC located in Yamagata Prefecture. The eight project is an 8MWAC extra high-voltage project in Niigata Prefecture. All were FIT-certified between FY2012 and FY2015 when the tariffs ranged between 40 and 27 yen per kWh.
Shifting away from solar to hydro allows POWER E NEXT to continue monetizing its assets through the FIT scheme and stay focused on the technical part of project development. Solar development has largely transitioned to the feed-in-premium (FIP) scheme, which requires project owners to not only build the power plants but also monetize them through commercial means such as corporate PPAs.
