Updated March 26, 2025, 4:20 a.m.: This article has been updated to include information about the projects’ EPC contractor.
Publicly traded investment company SPARX Group, Kansai Electric Power, and JA Mitsui Lease partnered to develop two 50MW/175.5MWh grid-scale storage assets in Sapporo City, Hokkaido, the companies said on March 25, 2025.
According to the companies’ statements, each of the facilities will be owned through a separate special purpose company, SGET Sapporo Chikudensho 1 LLC and SGET Sapporo Chikudensho 2 LLC, respectively. Both assets are expected to be commissioned in April 2028 and will be built without subsidies.
In addition to investing in the projects, SPARX Group’s subsidiary SPARX Green Energy & Technology will support the project’s development, fundraising, and operation. Kansai EPCO’s subsidiary E-Flow will aggregate the assets and trade them in the wholesale, balancing, and capacity markets. The utility will also provide monitoring and maintenance service it offers jointly with Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions.
Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions will also be in charge of the projects engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC).
METI data shows SPARX Group-related special purpose companies (identified based on their names starting with SGET) own a portfolio of at least 34 operational FIT/FIP renewable power plants totaling over 400MW and multiple under development projects. The portfolio is diversified across multiple technologies including solar, onshore wind, biomass, and geothermal.
The two facilities in Hokkaido will be SPARX’s first BESS assets. “We plan to engage in similar battery storage business into other areas in the future,” said the company’s statement.
Kansai EPCO already owns an operational grid-scale storage facility, the 48MW/113MWh “Kinokawa Power Storage Plant” it developed jointly with Orix. JA Mitsui Lease has also been involved in the industry having, among other things, acquired a portfolio of three high-voltage 1.99MW/7.4MWh projects from Sun Village last year. SGET Sapporo 1 Power Storage Station and SGET Sapporo 2 Power Storage Station will be the largest BESS assets in the two companies’ portfolios.
