Monthly Report

SMFL Mirai Partners and Nippon Steel Eng. to add BESS to 2.6MW solar plant alongside FIT-to-FIP conversion

November 15, 2024
Aoyagi Solar Park I
SMFL Mirai Partners owns the Aoyagi Solar Park I power plant through Iroha Energy LLC. (Image: SMFL Mirai Partners)

SMFL Mirai Partners partnered with Nippon Steel Engineering to add a 1.75MW/8.2MWh battery storage system to the 2.6MWDC Aoyagi Solar Park I in Koga City, Fukuoka Prefecture, and convert the project from the feed-in-tariff (FIT) to feed-in-premium (FIP) subsidy scheme, the companies announced on November 13, 2024.

The two companies plan to start operating the asset under the new scheme on February 20, 2025. SMFL Mirai Partners, which owns the power plant including the upcoming BESS through Iroha Energy LLC, will be responsible for the asset’s operation and maintenance, and its conversion to the FIP scheme. Nippon Steel Engineering will be responsible for optimizing the asset’s trading including the creation of charging and discharging plans and supply and demand balancing.

According to SMFL Mirai Partners, the project was approved for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s (METI) “support for the introduction of storage batteries in conjuction with renewable energy sources” subsidy in June 2024. The BESS will be supplied by Power X. It will consist of three Mega Power units and use Nishimu Electronics’ energy management system.

Utilizing the know-how gained through the upcoming scheme, SMFL Mirai Partners plans to, in the future, “provide a scheme to support the introduction of storage batteries at power plants other than those owned by our company.”

The Aoyagi Solar Park I power plant was first commissioned in August 2018. It is the third solar project that SMFL Mirai Partners will convert to FIP following two smaller-scale power plants totaling 736kWDC the company converted as part of a partnership with Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions first announced in 2022.

METI is currently discussing ways to incentivize asset owners to convert their assets from the FIT scheme that pays a fixed per kWh amount to the FIP scheme which pays a variable premium on top of the revenues asset owners are able to generate through the sale of the power and renewable energy certificates they generate. Our The Japan Power Industry Executive monthly report’s October 2024 issue covers the topic in detail.

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